The End of Days
by AsianPon3
Summary: The year is 2025. It has been two years since a disease has spread across America, crippling the American population to a low of less than one percent.The law system that once governed the land is now nonexistent. Gangs and raiders roam freely; looting, killing, and raping anything or anyone they see fit. This is where your story begins. Note: all characters are humans. Enjoy!
1. Meeting Skittles

**New story. Hope you all enjoy it. This is going to be my first story where all the characters are human, so if you do not like that, then I am sorry. Anyways, remember to leave a comment or review (Because I love getting comments and reviews) and stay tuned. More chapters to follow soon. Thanks, and as always, be safe and make smart choices. -Asianpon3-**

The year is 2025. It has been two years since a disease has spread across America, crippling the American population to a low of less than one percent. Only an estimated three million people remain, immune to this mysterious disease. Other countries have quarantined the United States, destroying aircraft and boats in an attempt to contain the disease. The law system that once governed the land is now nonexistent. Gangs and raiders roam freely; looting, killing, and raping anything or anyone they see fit. You are a survivor of this fatal disease and now scavenge the land for food and supplies that will help you survive. This is where your journey begins.

Somewhere in Georgia

"Whoa yeah," I yelled, driving down the highway at about sixty miles an hour; my hands thumping on the steering wheel in sync with the song that is playing through the speakers of the car. I continued to blaze down the highway, stopping occasionally to avoid collisions with abandoned cars. After continuing down the highway for an hour or so, I came across a peculiar scene. In the middle of the road was an old, 2012 Ford Mustang with the word helped painted on the side. Being cautious, I pulled off to the side of the road and turned off my Hummer. I took the keys out of the ignition and slid them into my pocket. I undid my seatbelt and leaned over the passenger's seat, grabbing my AR-15 that was nuzzled on the floorboard of the car. Stepping out of the Hummer, I took in my surroundings and searched for any signs of life. After surveying the area, I deemed it clear and proceeded towards the Mustang with my weapon drawn. After thoroughly searching the Mustang, I could not find any indication of life. Continuing to search the area, I noticed a semi that had run off the road and into the woods. With curiosity getting the better of me, I slowly crept up to the edge of the semi and searched the area. After a minute, I turned my attention towards the back of the semi, which was closed and locked. I smiled to myself and held my AR-15 towards the lock. With the pull of a trigger, a loud bang was heard and then the sound of metal on metal. Looking towards the lock, I was surprised to see it in two pieces on the ground.

"Well that works," I said, walking over to the semi and lifting the back door of the semi up. Once open, I stepped inside and allowed the light from the sun to fill the back of the semi. Piled to the roof of the semi were boxes upon boxes of random supplies. Unsheathing the knife from my leg, I opened a few boxes and reared back from what I saw. Expired meat filled all the boxes. Taking a whiff of the contents of the box, I quickly ran outside of the semi and began to vomit. After a minute of vomiting, I began to regain myself before I felt a cold metal object on the back of my head. I froze in fear before I heard a voice from behind me.

"Drop your gun and stand up slowly," the voice said. I was slightly caught off guard by the sound of the voice. Instead of a man's voice, I heard a women's voice, mostly likely in their late teens. I did as she said and threw my AR-15 to the ground. I slowly stood up, the gun still pressed against my head.

"Now, I want you too..." she tried to say before I spun around and grabbed the gun out of her hand. She was so startled that there was almost no resistance taking the gun from her. Now having the gun, I quickly pointed it at her and took a good look at my assailant. She was a thin girl with short rainbow colored hair, with a sky blue t-shirt and shorts on. She was around the age of 19 and looked terrified. I slowly picked up my AR-15 from the ground and swung it around my shoulder, still holding the gun towards the girl. After I secured my AR-15 I looked towards the girl with a small smile. She noticed my smile and fell onto her flank in fear. I slowly approached the downed girl so that I was only a few feet away from her. Her eyes were filled with terror as the gun slowly lowered towards her. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. After a few moments she opened an eye and looked up at me. She was met with the sight of me unloading the magazine in the gun and discharging the round in the chamber. I then threw the gun to her feet, but kept the magazine. She stared at me in disbelief before I slowly started to walk away from her. She quickly got to her feet and began to follow behind me.

"Hey. Hey, wait up," she yelled, trying to get my attention.

"What do you want?" I asked, continuing to walk away from the semi and towards my Hummer.

"I want to know why you didn't hurt me. Most people would have killed me or...?" she didn't finish her sentence.

"Or rape you?" I responded bluntly, finally reaching the open highway where my Hummer was. She was silent but continued to follow behind me.

"For the answer to your question, I don't like killing or hurting people unless it's necessary. As for the rape part, well unlike most people left in this world, I still have morals," I said, reaching my Hummer. I opened the driver's door and set my AR-15 on the dashboard. I pulled the keys out of my pocket and slid them into the ignition. With a turn of the keys, the engine roared to life. I rolled down the driver's side window and turned towards the rainbow haired girl.

"May I help you?" I asked, not looking amused.

"Umm, I was wondering if I could... come with you?" she asked.

"Why should I let you come with me? You tried to kill me a few minutes ago," I responded. The rainbow haired girl blushed slightly before clasping her hands together.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't going to hurt you. I just wanted another weapon in case I had to defend myself," she quickly responded. I studied her for a few moments before another small smile crept across my face.

"I knew you weren't going to hurt me. You don't seem like someone who likes violence," I said, shocking the girl. I nodded my head and motioned for her to get in. She quickly perked up and ran around the front of Hummer. She quickly got into the passenger side of the car and smiled brightly at me.

"Alright, if you are going to be traveling with me, there are two things we need to discuss. One, I am not your mom or dad. You can come and go as you please; all that I ask is that you listen to what I have to say without argument. Two, I am terrible with names, so I am going to give you a nickname that I will remember." The girl looked puzzled as I studied her again. My eyes fell to her rainbow colored hair and a smile crept across my face.

"Alright, your new nickname is Skittles," I responded, putting an end to my previous dilemma of remembering her name. Skittles stared at me for a few moments with a confused expression on her face.

"Skittles?" she asked, skeptical of her new nickname. I laughed and nodded my head.

"Yeah, is something wrong with Skittles?" I asked, causing her to blush slightly.

"No, it's just that," was all she could say before I cut her off.

"Wonderful, then off we go," I loudly proclaimed, putting the car into drive and continuing down the highway with a new companion.

Several Hours Later (Nighttime)

"What are we doing here?" Skittles asked, the sound of the Hummer shutting off.

"Well, we need some gas. Just wait in the car; I will be right back. Hopefully the pumps are working," I finished, grabbing my AR-15 off the dashboard and securing the strap around my shoulder and neck. I opened the driver side door and got out of the Hummer. I walked towards the passenger side of the car and undid the gas cap. I reached out for the gas pump and slid the nozzle into the fuel tank. I pushed the diesel button and luckily, the gas began to flow. I leaned up against the black Hummer and smiled. I was patiently waiting for my tank to fully fill before something caught my eye. I quickly raised my rifle and moved towards the front of the Humvee. When I got to the passenger door I opened it slightly to see Skittles staring at me with a concerned look.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked. I nodded my head and without taking my eyes away from the corner of the small gas station, I calmly told Skittles what to do.

"Skittles, I want you to do exactly as I say ok." She nodded her head in understanding.

"Good, I need you to do absolutely nothing. Just stay here and don't move. I'm going to investigate what I saw." Before she could object, I was already making my way towards the edge of the store. A few minutes went by while Skittles continued to wait in the car, anxious and worried about her new friend. Another minute or so went by before a barrage of gunfire was heard. Skittles covered her ears and hid herself in the front seat of the car. After a few seconds, Skittle poked her head up and stared out the window. From inside the gas station, a man casually strolled up from within and made his way towards the car. Skittles sat motionless in the car, afraid to move as the man continued to stroll up to the passenger side window. A moment later the passenger door opened to reveal a slightly overweight man with dirty blonde hair and dressed in plaid, holding a single barrel shotgun.

"Well aren't you a pertty thang," the man said, a typical southern accent apparent in his voice. Skittles stared blankly and fearful at the man in front of her.

"Don't worry there sweetheart, I don't bite... much," he finished stepping back with the gun still aimed at Skittles.

"Now get outta the car," the man demanded.

"What did you do to my friend," Skittles blurted out, much to the dissatisfaction of the man.

"Well, your dear friend is dead. I had my boys lure him away and well... I tink you heard the rest for yerself dhere," the mane said, a smug smile on his face. Skittles had a few tears in her eyes, knowing that her only friend had just died. The man soon lost his patience with Skittles and quickly approached the car again.

"I said, get outta the car," the man yelled, grabbing Skittles by the arm and forcing her out of the car and onto the ground. She hit the ground and a large gash formed on her upper right leg. The man smiled evilly as he took a step closer to her, his gun now by his side.

"I'm gonna enjoy this," he said, taking another step closer to her before a loud gunshot was heard and the man fell to the ground only inches away from Skittles. Skittles quickly searched the area for the source of the gunshot and saw me quickly running towards her with my AR-15 aimed at the man. Once I was next to Skittles I quickly kicked the shotgun away from the man on the ground and rolled him over onto his back. He let out a large grunt as blood poured from the wound in his chest. I dropped to a knee and inspected the man's wounds before I gave a slow shake of my head.

"I'm sorry," I said, taking out a 9mm from my back pants and aiming it at the man. With the squeeze of the trigger, the man's body went completely limp. I slid the 9mm into my back pants again and lowered my head. A few moments of silence went by before I lifted my head and stared at Skittles. A gentle smile was visible on my face before I saw the large gash on Skittles leg.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked, holding out a hand to help her up. Skittles nodded her head and as she stood up, grunted slightly in pain from her injury.

"That looks like a pretty nasty cut you got there," I said, looking at her leg.

"It's not so bad," she said, taking a step before gritting her teeth. I laughed slightly and helped Skittles into the passenger side of the Hummer.

"Alright, I will be right back. Let me run inside the gas station to see if I can find a first aid kit for your leg." I then closed the passenger side door and quickly ran inside of the gas station. After a few minutes I came out with a large cardboard box and a grin on my face. After loading the cardboard box into the trunk, I took out two empty gas cans and hastily filled them up. I then screwed the caps onto both gas cans and placed them in the trunk of the car with my other supplies. After closing the trunk, I walked around to the driver's side of the Hummer and got in. Once I got in, I set my AR-15 on the dashboard and pulled out the 9mm and placed it in the center compartment. I turned towards Skittles and gave a radiant smile.

"So how about we find a nice hotel tonight. I think we both deserve it," I said, causing Skittles to smile and nod her head.

"All right, to the Marriot," I yelled, starting up the hummer and driving to the nearest Marriot I could find.

Half an Hour Later (Inside the Marriot)

"Alright, now show me your leg," I asked, causing Skittles to blush slightly.

"Why... why do you need to see my leg?" she quickly responded.

"So I can treat it of course. I don't want it to get infected," I said, causing her to blush again and before she outstretched her right leg so I could see the full damage. I set the gasoline lamp on the small end table next to her and opened the first aid kit. I grabbed the hand sanitizer and cleaned my hands before reaching for some disinfectant.

"Now this may sting a little, but it wont be that bad," I said, dipping a cotton ball in the disinfectant. Skittles nodded her head and I proceeded to lower the cotton ball onto the wound. When we made contact, Skittles gritted her teeth and clenched her fists from the burning sensation of the disinfectant killing the bacteria in the wound.

"Almost done, and there," I said, pulling the cotton ball away from her wound and throwing it off to the side. I reached into to the first aid kit and grabbed a roll of gauze with a clean cloth coated in Neosporin.

"Ok, this shouldn't hurt at all. I just need you to hold this cloth to your leg while I wrap it up. Then you should be good to go." Skittles nodded her head and held the cloth in place. I quickly and carefully rolled the gauze around her leg.

"And done," I said, putting the left over materials back into the first aid kit.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked, Skittles shaking her head and looking over the handy work I did.

"Wonderful, and since you were such a great patient, I got a little something for you." I reached into the cardboard box I had gotten at the gas station and pulled out a bag a candy. I gently set it in front of Skittles and waited for her to read the label.

"Skittles... really?" she asked, playfully slugging me in the arm with a laugh.

"What can I say, I think you of all people would enjoy them," I finished. We both laughed for a few more minutes before Skittles grew silent. I looked towards her and could tell she had something on her mind.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" I asked, causing Skittles to look up at me spastically shake her head.

"No, no, no. It's just... I want to thank you. I mean for not leaving me back there and for saving me," she said, the blush on her face now visible again.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure if you were in my position, you would have done the same. And besides, I like a company every once in a while. Keeps me from going insane, if you know what I mean," I replied. Skittles nodded her head and let out a large yawn.

"Well it looks like you are tired. You had a rough day, so why don't you get some sleep. I'm going to stay up for a little while longer." Skittles nodded her head and pulled back the covers to her bed. She quickly got underneath them and fell asleep. I looked back towards Skittles to see that she was out cold. I chuckled slightly and walked over to AR-15. I inspected my rifle, before disassembling it; cleaning it, and then putting it back together. The process took around half an hour and once finished, I looked towards the bed to see Skittles still fast asleep. I smiled and walked towards the second bed in the room. I placed my AR-15 next to the bed and took off my shirt. I threw my shirt on the floor and got under the covers, sleep quickly taking hold of me from the eventful day.


	2. Just My Luck

**Chapter two of my new story and in the progress of chapter three as we speak. I hope you all enjoy the story and dont forget to leave a comment (I love reading comments). Anyways, enjoy, remember to always make smart choices and be safe. Have a wonderful week and Happy Belated New Years! -Asianpon3-**

Chapter 2

The Next Morning (Marriot)

The sun had just risen, causing light to filter in through the shades of the hotel room. It was rather early in the morning, but due to my familiarity of lack of sleep, I forced my body up and felt completely awake. I instinctively grabbed my AR-15 and scanned the room. When my eyes came upon the second bed in the room, I noticed a peacefully sleeping girl with messy Rainbow hair. I chuckled to myself and pulled the covers off of my body. I then proceeded towards the bathroom, but not before grabbing a bottle of water and my toothbrush and toothpaste. Walking over to the sink, I undid the cap to the toothpaste and spread it onto my toothbrush. I began to brush my teeth and after a minute, spit out the toothpaste and used the bottle of water to rinse my mouth. After pouring the rest of the water on my face, I stared into the mirror in front of me. Staring back was a young adult male, around twenty years old, with short-dark brown hair and slight facial hair. He stood at a height of 5'10'' and had hazel blue eyes. I stared into the mirror for a few minutes before grabbing a towel and drying off my face. I then grabbed my AR-15, which was propped against the wall, and proceeded towards the door of the hotel room. After glancing back towards Skittles, I smiled and headed out of the room.

Two Hours Later

As the light cascaded through the open blinds Skittles slowly opened her eyes. She gently sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She groggily glanced around the room before a slight panic set in. She quickly glanced around the room again before her heart started to race.

"Hello?" she called out, not receiving an answer. Skittles hurriedly threw the covers off of her and got out of bed. She paused momentarily, staring at her injured leg and the gauze that surrounded her wound.

"He... he wouldn't leave me... would he?" she asked herself. Before Skittles could do anything else the front door of the room swung open and Skittles let out a high pitched scream. I quickly walked into view with a worried expression on my face.

"Everything alright Skittles?" I asked, staring at the rainbow haired girl. A moment went by before a large blush appeared on her face.

"Skittles, you ok? You look a little hot," I said, misinterpreting the blush on her face. I walked over towards her and put my hand to her forehead. Skittles grew an expression of shock as my hand touched her forehead. I then placed my spare hand to my forehead to compare the differences in temperatures.

"You don't seem to be running a fever or anything. I think you just need some water," I said, pulling my hand away from her forehead and grabbing a spare bottle of water out of the cardboard box.

"Here you go. This ought to help." Skittles stood motionless, the same redness adorning her face before she took the bottle of water.

"Ok and when you are done with that, I have some breakfast for us to eat. Nothing special, just some granola bars. Then I thought we could hit up the town to see if we can find anything of use." Skittles nodded her head and was met with a smile.

"Great. Then get ready and I will be waiting out in the Hummer for you," I said, grabbing the cardboard box along with my AR-15 that was already slung around my shoulder and neck. I then exited the room to give Skittles a little privacy while she got ready.

An Hour Later

"Ok, it says on the map that there is a military surplus store around here somewhere." I continued to slowly drive through the deserted town, while Skittles happily nommed on her breakfast; an apple-cinnamon flavored granola bar.

"I still don't see the stupid... oh wait, there it is," I said, making a left turn into a parking lot with several stores. Most of the stores were small restaurants, but in the middle was the large military surplus store I was looking for.

"Ralph's Weapons and Ammo. Catchy," I smugly said to myself, parking the Hummer and then turning it off. I looked towards Skittles, who had now finished her breakfast and had a beaming smile on her face.

"You ready?" I asked, receiving a nod. I smiled and grabbed my AR-15 from the dashboard of the car. I then opened the center console and grabbed the 9mm I had placed there the night before. After making sure it was loaded, I put the gun on safety and handed it to a very surprised Skittles.

"What... what is this for?" she asked, staring at me and then at the gun.

"It's in case you need to defend yourself. I'm not going to let you get hurt if I can help it."

"But why?" she asked innocently. I was about to respond, before I stopped myself. A few moments of silence went by before I gave her my answer.

"Because, I'm not going to let anyone else die because of me... not again" I said, the last part in a low whisper. Skittles sat silent for a few moments before grabbing the gun out of my hand. I gave a weak smile and opened my door. Skittles followed my example and we both found ourselves standing before the front door of the store. I peered inside through the glass, but didn't find any traces of human activity. I stepped back from the glass before motioning for Skittles to do the same. Skittles nodded her head and took a few steps back from the front door. I took my AR-15 and rifle butted the front glass on the door. To my surprise, it shattered the first time, allowing easy access inside. Once inside, I looked around the room in front of me and saw numerous hunting outfits as well as accessories.

"Skittles, I think we found the jackpot," I said, walking down some of the aisles in the store, seeing the selection I had to choose from. I walked back over to Skittles with a wide smile stretched across my face.

"What?" Skittles asked, making me laugh slightly.

"I can't believe nobody has looted this place yet. Which means that we have all of this stuff for ourselves. Grab a shopping cart Skittles, this is going to be so fun," I said, Skittles staring at me like I was a child in a candy shop. I turned back around to face the fully stocked store again.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to enjoy this."

Three Hours Later 

"Hey Skittles, find anything else?" I asked, pawing through another section of the store.

"Nothing yet," she responded, moving onto another aisle. I finished looking through my section of the store before I decided to walk into the back.

"Hey, I'm going to check the back," I said, opening the door to the back storage room. I was overcome with joy when I saw many wooden crates lying around in the back.

"Hey Skittles, come take a look at what I found," I said, making my way towards a few wooden crates in front of me. Skittles poked her head through the back door and slowly walked towards me, admiring all the crates.

"Wow, what do you think are in these crates?" she said, walking up to one and inspecting it. I walked up next to her and shook my head.

"I don't know. Only one way to find out though," I said, taking out my knife and opening the lid to a crate. I grabbed underneath the lid and threw it off of the top of the crate. What I saw next slightly confused me.

"Level Four?" Skittles asked, inspecting the individual packages in the crate. It took me a few seconds before a smile crept across my face.

"You know what this is, don't you?" I asked, pulling out a package and opening it to reveal a ceramic plate.

"No I don't," Skittles replied, shaking her head.

"This is body armor. You slide these ceramic plates into vests that you wear. It is suppose to block most small caliber bullets. Seeing how it is level four, this is some really good stuff." I reached further into the crate and grabbed a tan colored vest. I took the ceramic plate and slid it into the front part of the vest. It fit perfectly in before I reached back into the crate and grabbed another plate. I slid the second plate into the back part of the vest and then put the vest on.

"It's a little heavy, but hopefully it will save my ass if I get shot," I said, grinning towards Skittles. Skittles returned a playful grin and slugged my arm.

"Just try not to die on me," she said, causing me to lightly chuckle.

"Don't worry, I will always be there to protect you, no matter what happens" I replied, taking Skittles by shock.

"You will?" Skittles instinctively asked.

"Of course. I will never abandon any of my friends, no matter what." Skittles blushed slightly and quickly looked away.

"Ok, so what else are in these crates?" Skittles asked, trying to diffuse the embarrassing atmosphere. I looked at another crate and walked towards it. With my knife in hand, I propped open the lid and slid off the top of the crate. I looked into the box and pulled out a rectangular box.

"Remington 700," I read on the rectangular box. I opened the smaller box to reveal a long grey rifle with an attachable scope.

"I remember this gun now. Fires a .308 caliber bullet with an effective range of about seven hundred yards," I recalled. I then pulled out a few extra clips for the gun.

"This might come in handy."

"What will?" Skittles asked, walking up next to me. I pulled the gun out of its box and pulled back the bolt.

"Yeah, this is definitely a nice gun," I said to myself, setting the gun down next to Skittles. I then turned towards Skittles and smiled.

"Just another rifle. You can never have too many guns nowadays."

"What kind of rifle is it?" Skittles innocently asked. I grabbed the few R700 magazines and placed them in my vest. I then grabbed the R700 and stood up.

"It's a sniper rifle. I remember learning about these on the military channel. They fire a .308 caliber bullet and are effective to about seven hundred yards." Skittles eyed the rifle before looking up at me.

"Do you know how to use that thing?" she asked. I pulled back the bolt again, examined the inside of the barrel, and closed it with one fluid motion.

"I think I can figure it out," I replied, a bit of sarcasm in my voice. Skittles rolled her eyes and walked towards another crate.

"What's in this one?" she asked. I walked next to her and propped open the lid with my knife. When I looked inside, I smiled at the sight of about twenty green ammo cans.

"Well if I had to guess, I think it would be ammo," I said, giving Skittles a playful look. She gave me a playful slug in the arm again before we both began to laugh.

"Come on. Help me move some of this stuff to the hummer and then we can eat some lunch. I saw a nice place a little ways down. Then we can get back on the road again. How does that sound?"

"That is fine by me," Skittles responded, another smiling radiating from her face.

"Wonderful," I said, grabbing my new rifle and a can of ammo before heading towards my Hummer with the newly acquired supplies.

Three Hours Later

"So tell me a little more about yourself. I don't even know your real name," Skittles said, glancing at me as we drove down the highway.

"I was never really one for names, so to say. My friends used call me a few different things: Frosty, Asian, Kamikaze. I really like the last one," I said, a laugh soon following.

"But for some reason, the name I liked the most, was Gear."

"Gear?" Skittles responded. I nodded my head in confirmation.

"Yeah. You see, I have always had this fascination with how things work. I couldn't look at a doorknob without trying to think about how it works." I paused for a moment before continuing. "So my friends used to always call me Gear because I would always try to build different things. That is another reason I know a little bit about guns. Military technology has always fascinated me, so as a teenager I would always watch the military channel. They would do specials on the different weapons used throughout different armies and how they worked, what they fired, and so on."

"Wait, you said that you used to watch the military channel when you were a teenager. How old are you now?" she asked, curious as to what the answer was.

"Well, if I remember correctly, I am twenty years old," I replied, before asking a question of my own.

"So what about you. How old are you Skittles?" I asked, causing Skittles to blush slightly. Since I was focusing on the road, I didn't notice the change of color in her face.

"I'm... eighteen," she replied. I laughed slightly at the response, causing Skittles to blush even redder.

"What's so funny?" Skittles demanded, causing me to laugh even more. A moment of laughter went by before I slowly calmed down.

"I didn't know you were old enough to, you know," I paused for a moment trying to remember the word. Skittle's face turned bright red before I remembered the word.

"Gamble. That's it. Can't believe I couldn't remember the word." I turned my head for a second to see Skittle's bright red face.

"You ok Skittles?" I asked. Skittles quickly snapped out of her dazed shock.

"Of course I'm alright. Why would I be?" she responded, followed by a nervous laugh.

"Oh, ok then," I said, focusing my attention back on the road. We continued to ride in silence for a few more minutes before we started to approach a bridge.

"Alright Skittles, hold your breath." Skittles had a puzzled look on her face as we continued to approach the bridge.

"What do you mean?" she asked. As soon as she asked this question our front wheels hit the beginning of the bridge. I held my breath the entire time as we continued to drive for about thirty seconds of silence. When we exited the bridge I exhaled and began to quickly return to a normal breathing rate.

"Why did you do that?" she asked again. I smiled but kept my focus towards the road.

"When I was younger, my parents would always tell us to hold our breath across a bridge. It was more of something fun to do, to see how long we could hold it. Well, my parents also used to say to make a wish, and if you could hold your breath across the entire bridge, it would come true," I finished, followed by a slight chuckle.

"It was a silly thing to do, but I always enjoyed it. It was a good way to make any car ride fun." We began to come upon another bridge as another smile crept across my face.

"Alright Skittles. We both do it this time," I said. Skittles looked towards me and nodded her head.

"Ok," she responded, about five seconds from the bridge.

"And...GO!" I yelled, taking a deep breath followed by Skittles. The bridge was around a quarter of mile. I kept the speed at around seventy miles an hour while continually looking at Skittles to see how well she was holding up. To my surprise, she was didn't seem to be struggling at all. After about thirty seconds of driving across the bridge, we finally made it to the other side. We both exhaled and took in quick breaths. I looked towards Skittles with a smile on my face.

"Great job. So what you wish for?" I asked. Skittles looked at me before quickly blushing and turning away.

"I... I can't tell you?" she replied, staring out the front windshield.

"Good," I replied, causing a confused expression on Skittle's face.

"What?" she asked, confused as to what just happened.

"I said good. You aren't supposed to tell anyone about your wish. Just like the same rules about wishing on a shooting star or a wishing well. If you tell someone, it won't come true." Skittles voice slowly echoed in her head.

"I wish... you would never leave me." A few minutes went by before Skittle's name being called snapped her out of her trance.

"Skittles. Hey Skittles?" I called out. She quickly looked up at me and was met with a worried expression.

"You ok? You seem to be a little out of it," I said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking is all," she responded. I nodded and focused my attention back to the road. Another minute or so went by before we approached a very large bridge.

"No way I can hold my breath over this thing. Better not even try," I said aloud, Skittles nodding her head in agreement.

"Yeah, I don't want you to run us off of this bridge because you were too stupid to breathe," Skittles retorted, making me laugh.

"I agree. I would prefer to keep all wheels on the ground the best I can," I said, entering the bridge. Skittles smiled and nodded her head. About a minute after we got onto the bridge, I could see the other side. I continued to drive down the bridge before Skittles broke the silence.

"Hey... Gear?" she asked, me chuckling at my nickname.

"Yes Skittles?" I answered.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"Well, it's just that..." was all Skittles could say before we heard the sound of a few bullets hitting the front of the Hummer. One of the shots managed to hit the front left tire, causing the Hummer to lose control.

"Hang on Skittles," I yelled, trying to gain control of the Hummer. A few moments of struggle went by before the hummer slammed into an unmanned car, sending the hummer into a spin. The hummer then barreled towards the guardrail and came to a halt with half of the hummer hanging off the side of the bridge so that the driver side was hanging over the water and the hummer itself was parallel to the now, nonexistent guardrail. After a few moments of unconsciousness, I slowly opened my eyes and saw Skittles with cuts and bruises all over her, but otherwise unharmed. I took in the situation and began to formulate a plan.

"All right Skittles, this is what we are going to...," but was cut off by the sound of voices quickly approaching.

"Don't move Skittles, I will handle this," I said, trying to move by found my leg pinned against the door.

"Damn it." I quickly looked towards Skittles to find the passenger door open and a man grab at her.

"Don't you fucking touch her," I yelled, trying to pull my leg from the jammed door. The rough looking man grabbed the dazed Skittles from the car and another man walked over towards the passenger side door.

"I looked at the man before my eyes shifted towards my AR-15. The man noticed my stare and quickly grabbed the AR-15 before I could reach it.

"Now that I have your attention, I am going to tell you how this works. I'm taking the girl with me. Tonight, I'm going to have the pleasure of breaking her in before I let my boys have a turn, along with some other new merchandise. You on the other hand, will be at the bottom of a lake, sleeping with the fish, if that is the right expression to use." I balled my fist in a rage and swung at the man. The sudden movement made the Hummer slide slightly more over the edge. I looked towards the man before an evil smile plastered his face.

"Have fun buddy boy," the man said, slamming the door shut. I continued to struggle to get my leg free, every few seconds slowly making a little progress.

"I'm going to kill all you motherfuckers," I yelled again, but only heard laughter as a response.

"Hey girly, take a look at your boyfriend over there," a henchman said, Skittles lifting her head and looking towards the Hummer that was slowly sliding off the bridge.

"No, No!" Skittles yelled, kneeing the henchman holding her in the groin. The man quickly lost his grip and Skittles ran towards the hummer and swung the door open.

"I'm going to get you out of there, don't worry," she said, before I held out my hand with something in it.

"Take it, quick!" I yelled, Skittles quickly taking the small item before being restrained again by another henchman.

"Don't fucking touch her," I yelled again, hearing Skittles still struggle with the henchman. The Hummer began to creak even louder as it began to slide even farther off the bridge.

"Have fun kiddo," I heard the man yell before I felt the Hummer begin to tip all the way over the railing and freefall into the water. The entire time I could hear the sound of Skittle's scream; not a scream that one would have if fearful or scared, but one of watching as a dear friend died in front of their eyes and there was nothing you could do to stop it. The Hummer hit the water and began to instantly sink to the bottom of the small body of water below.

"Load her up in the van, we are out of here," the leader of the group said, walking away from the murder scene without any remorse. The only thing that Skittles could think of was how horrible a death her friend just had. She began to cry as the henchman threw her in the back of the van, accompanied by two other people. One of the girls was petite in size and had long light pink hair. The girl slowly moved towards the crying rainbow haired girl and placed her arms around her.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say, her voice soft and angelic, as the rainbow haired girl continued to cry into the arms of a stranger.


	3. One Shot, One Kill

**Here is the next chapter of End of Days. I hope you all enjoy it, because it was really fun to write. There is a major action scene in here and a few references to games (Assassins Creed, Call of duty Black Ops 2). So yeah, I hope you all enjoy it and dont forget to leave a comment and/or review. So like always, be safe everypony, make smart choices, and have a wonderful rest of the weekend and week!**

**P.S. I have gotten some questions about how this story is pony related. (From some admin over at Fimfic. I just thought I should make this clear and say that Skittles is in fact, Rainbow. Some people may not have caught that, so I just wanted to be clear. Also, this is a humanized story... if you didnt know lol. **

Chapter 3

"Why, why did he have to die," Skittles cried, still trying to be comforted by the pink haired girl.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will be fine," the pink haired girl responded to Skittles. Skittles continued to cry for another five minutes or so before sitting up and wiping the tears from her face.

"Yeah, he is probably fine," Skittles lied. Even though she was certain her new friend had died, the small lie helped put her mind at relative ease.

"Well of course he is fine silly. Why wouldn't he be?" the other girl in the back of the van asked.

"Well... you saw what happened to him... there is almost no way..." Skittles was cutoff by the energetic girl now in front of her.

"Don't you worry your silly little head, he is fine. My Pinkie Sense tells me so!" she exclaimed, getting a confused look from Skittles.

"What do you mean... your Pinkie Sense tells you?" she asked. The energetic girl smiled.

"Well, for some reason I have the ability to predict the future. I get these certain feelings, like twitching and itching in different patterns that tell me what is going to happen, but I don't know what exactly will happen. But my Pinkie Senses are telling me that your friend is still alive. I don't know what he is doing, but he is still alive!" the girl quickly spoke.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Pinkie!" the girl excitedly exclaimed to the two stunned passengers with her.

"Wait, is that your real name?" Skittles asked.

"Of course not silly, but it's what everyone usually calls me, seeing how I always wear pink!" Skittles took a moment to examine the girl in front of her. She had dark pink poof hair and a lighter shade pink shirt with three balloons on it. She wore short blue jean shorts and had on high pink socks, which reached her knees. Looking down at her shoes, she had on pink, low cut Converse.

"I guess I see why they call her Pinkie," Skittles thought before smiling.

"Nice to meet you Pinkie. I'm Skittles." Skittles said, giving a polite smile.

"Skittles? You look like a Rainbow to me!" Pinkie exclaimed. Skittles gave a small giggle before responding.

"Yeah, lot's of my friends used to call me that because of my hair. Though I have started to take a liking to Skittles," Rainbow said. Pinkie gave a wide grin before turning towards the other person in the van. She continued to grin at the girl before the girl gave a quiet squeak.

"What's your name?" Rainbow asked, trying to break the awkward silence in the van.

"Oh, my name is..." the last part was inaudible.

"Oh, could you speak up a little bit. I didn't quite catch that," Rainbow said. The pink haired girl quickly began to apologize.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to not be loud enough. It's just when I get around new people, I can't help myself. Oh, I'm so sorry," the girl said, before squeaking slightly.

"It's ok. Don't worry about it. How about we just call you Shy, seeing as how you are so shy around new people," Rainbow asked, waiting for the girl to respond. The girl lightly smiled and nodded her head.

"Ok, Shy it is. Anyway, do any of you now where we are going?" Rainbow asked. Both girls shook their heads while Rainbow sighed.

"I thought so," she responded, looking at her hand to reveal a small metallic necklace. It was of a plain white cloud with a lightning bolt striking down from it. The lightning bolt consisted of three different colors, which were blue, yellow, and red. Shy noticed the necklace and then looked up at Rainbow.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing to the object Rainbow had in her hands.

"I don't know. It was the last thing Gear gave to me before... before he..."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring him up..." Shy was quickly interrupted by Pinkie.

"I already told you two, your friend is fine. My Pinkie Senses tell me so," Pinkie quickly said. Rainbow smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah, he is probably on his way to save us right now," Rainbow said, giggling slightly at the thought of me saving her again.

"Well, seeing how we don't have much to do, how about we just tell each other a little about ourselves, I mean if you don't mind that is?" Shy asked, hiding half of her face behind her long pink hair.

"I think that would be a super splendid idea!" Pinkie yelled, beginning to talk about herself while the other two passengers listened intently about their new friend.

Gear P.O.V. (Ten Minutes After Incident)

"Those fuckers," I said, coughing up water and catching my breath. I collapsed on the shore before throwing off my backpack and vest and lying there. After about two hours, I sat up. I opened the backpack and filtered through one of the smaller compartments on the side of it. I then pulled out a GPS that was sealed in plastic.

"Good thing the military makes almost everything waterproof," I said to myself. I turned on the GPS and prayed that it would work. Within a few seconds, it lit up and the screen showed my position.

"Hell yeah. Now hopefully I can find Skittles," I said, looking through the options menu and finding the GPS tracking software. I clicked on it and then the option to enable it. After a few minutes of searching, I heard the GPS make a small noise. I looked at the screen and I felt the adrenalin hit me. On the GPS was Skittle's location, only five miles away. I set down the GPS and grabbed the rifle next to me. It was my Remington 700 that I had time to grab before the Hummer completely sunk, along with the 9mm pistol in the middle compartment of the Hummer.

"Alright then. I have two guns, ten rounds for the 9mm and only... one round for the R700. Just my freaking luck," I said, contemplating about what to do. I then searched my backpack for any more supplies that could be useful in the coming fight.

"So I have a smoke grenade, a pair of night vision/thermal imaging goggles, a medical kit, a few MRE's, my weapons and lack of ammo, my GPS, no ride, and probably a fight against a small gang of assholes. This is going to be fun," I said, looking at my GPS again.

"Five miles by foot, that is probably an hour and a half walk with all this gear. Good, that will put the time just past dark. Perfect time to strike," I said, holstering my pistol and loading the only round I had into the R700.

"This round is for that fucker. I'm saving you for later," I said, sliding the bolt closed to my R700.

"Alright then, let's move out," I told myself, putting on my vest and backpack and starting to walk towards the objective.

Two Hours Later

"Well I must say, they picked a nice place to hold up," I said to myself, looking through my night vision/thermal imaging goggles. In front of me was a large two-story house in the middle of the woods that I assume had about six bedrooms.

"Alright, let's take a look with my thermal." I then switched the night vision goggles to thermal imaging mode and took a look at the building.

"Alright, I see... ten thermal images. One of those is Skittles, but I don't know if there are any other hostages in there. Oh well, pray for the best, expect the worst," I said aloud, switching back to night vision mode. I slowly approached the outskirts of the house and watched as two guards made their passes, continually circling the house. I smiled and slowly crept towards some bushes that were along the path of the guards. I waited for a guard to come close before pulling out my knife. As soon as he was close enough, I pulled him close to me as I slipped my free hand over the guard's mouth while plunging my knife into his chest. I then quickly pulled him into the bushes with me before the other guard noticed the commotion. I waited a little bit longer for the other guard to come along the same path. A few moments later, he was in sight and I performed the same kill I did with the previous guard. Unfortunately, there were no weapons on either guard, just a walky-talky and a flashlight. I grabbed one of the walky-talkies and proceeded to move towards the side of the house. I switched to my thermal vision before looking through the walls. Downstairs, in most likely the living room area, were a group of men sitting at a table and playing cards. I quietly walked towards the front door of the house and grabbed the smoke grenade attached to my vest. I took it off and pulled the pin. I then opened the door slightly and threw the grenade in the house. Within seconds, I heard confused men scrambling to their feet, looking for the cause of the smoke. I quickly opened the door and with my pistol in hand, put two bullets into each person, killing them instantly.

"Haha, they didn't even see that coming. Thank the Sun herself that I have thermal vision. See's right through that stuff," I thought to myself, approaching the door downstairs that had three heat signatures inside.

"Damn, only four rounds left. If there are three enemies, I better not miss." I quickly kicked in the door and scanned the room. My sight was quickly fixated on two girls that I didn't recognize. For a moment, I lost my focus, but the sound of a handgun firing and the pain in my left arm and shoulder quickly helped me refocus. While a few more rounds hit my body armor I managed to aim at the man firing at me and let loose four rounds as fast as I could. He quickly fell to the floor, dead. I then rushed over to the two girls and undid the ropes that tied their hands, while also removing the gags out of their mouths.

"Are you two alright?" I asked, ignoring the pain in my arm and shoulder. One girl with poofy pink hair nodded her head and had a large smile on her face.

"I knew we would be saved. See didn't I tell you. My Pinkie Senses are never wrong," the girl exclaimed looking towards the other girl, who was shaking. I quickly turned my attention to the shaking girl and undid her bounds and gag.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just..." was all I had time to say before I was lunged at with the shaking pink haired girl. She was wearing a yellow shirt with a picture of three pink-winged, cyan colored body butterflies. She also had on blue jeans and was crying profusely into my chest. I regained my composure from the sudden outburst of the girl. I gently pushed her away and then stood up.

"It's alright, I will be back here in a few minutes. I need to rescue my friend," I said, running up the stairs and then standing in front of the door that had two heat signatures radiating from behind it. Before opening the door, I took out the walky-talky I salvaged from the dead guard and began to speak.

"Can you hear me?" I asked. There were a few moments of silence before I heard a voice on the opposite side of the walky-talky.

"Yes I can. Now let me tell you how this is going to work. You are going to throw down all of your weapons and walk through that door with your hands behind your head. You have to the count of three to do so, or I put a bullet into your friend's head and then kill you anyways. So, you have to the count of three, starting now." I set down my backpack and unslung my rifle before taking aim at the door.

_I am a bullet. I have no feelings, only a purpose._

"One"

_To protect those I care about and to ensure their safety._

"Two"

_To defend them to my dying breath. That is my purpose._

"Three"

**BANG! **

That is what was heard as I pulled the trigger to the R700, letting the .308 round do its job. I dropped my rifle and slowly opened the door to find Skittles sitting in a chair, shaking as a pool of blood began to form around the dead kidnapper. I slowly walked up to Skittles and knelt down. She looked at me before lunging herself at me, much like the pink haired girl did. She then began to cry into my chest while hugging me as tight as she could. I put one arm around her and let her continue to cry. A few minutes went by before she looked up at me and began to hit my chest.

"What... why are you doing that?" I asked, as she continued to hit me. By now, the two other girls had managed to make their way into the doorway of the room and watched the scene unfold before them.

"Because you scared me. I thought... I thought you were dead!" she yelled, not hitting me anymore but still crying into me. I began to chuckle slightly, causing her to glare at me through puffy eyes.

"Why are you laughing?" she demanded, causing me to laugh even more.

"Because I told you. I will always protect you and anyone else who is close to me." Skittles quickly wiped the tears away from her face and looked away with a slight blush.

"Anyway, come on Skittles. Let's get you... ARG." Was all I could say, grabbing my left arm with my right hand. Skittles quickly noticed the wounds and began to freak out.

"Oh my gosh. Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded my head and tried to stand up.

"Yeah, I should be FINE!" I yelled, another surge of pain filtering through my left arm and shoulder. The room around me began to spin as I started to feel dizzy.

"Skittles, my backpack has medical kit in it. I need you too..." was all I could say before I passed out.

"Oh my gosh," Skittles said, trying to hold up my limp body. She quickly looked at the two girls in the doorway with frantic eyes.

"Shy, you said you were a vet assistant right?" Skittles asked.

"Oh yes... but what does that have to do with anything?" she quietly asked.

"Pinkie, get the first aid kit from his backpack. Shy, I need you to help me move him to a bed. Then I need you to help him. You have worked with animals so it should be similar to a human."

"Oh, I don't know... I mean, I never did any surgery before... I just helped out with taking notes and whatever else the vet needed.

"Please Shy. You are the only one who has any medical experience. Please help him," Skittles pleaded with begging eyes. Shy nodded her head as she came over to help lift my limp body.

"I will do my best," Shy said.

"Thank you. That is all I ask," Skittles said, moving my body to a clean bed in the next room. Pinkie quickly came in a few seconds later with the medical kit. For some reason, her hair had lost some of its poofyness, and was straighter than before. She handed the medical kit to Shy as Skittles took off my vest and shirt. They could clearly see where the bullets entered my body, but no exit holes. This meant that they would have to pull the bullets out of my body before they could stop the bleeding. All three girls worked the best they could trying to save the person that had just saved their lives.


	4. Growing Bonds

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Sorry I dont update regularly. Been busy with school and whatnot. Anyway, feel free to leave comments and suggestions in the reviews below. Anyway, have a wonderful weekend and remember to all be safe and make smart choices. Until next time everypony! -Asianpon3-**

Chapter 4

The Next Day (9:30am)

Sunlight began to shine through the small cracks of the blinds that covered the window adjacent to the bed I rested. Slowly opening my eyes, I looked towards the window where the sunlight began to through. I tried to lift my left arm to shield my face from the annoying sunlight, but quickly recoiled in pain and dropped my arm. Looking at my left arm, I noticed that it was bandaged in a delicate manner. I tried to lift my arm again, this time slowly, but was still met with a sharp pain. I let my arm go limp and let it gently rest on the bed before trying to use my right arm to block out the annoying sun still bombarding my face. I noticed a large sum of weight on my right arm and turned my head to the right side of the bed to investigate. I was speechless as I stared at the foreign oddity that resided in my bed. Lying on my right arm was a girl, around the age of seventeen or eighteen, with pink poofy hair. Staring at this girl for a few more moments, I was unsuspectingly pulled out of my gaze when she opened her eyes. Letting out a quick scream of surprise, mixed with a slight bit of confusion and fear, I recoiled back and fell off the bed. Landing on the hardwood floor, I grabbed my left shoulder with my right arm, trying to subside the pain.

"God damn it," I yelled, holding my left arm and staring up at the girl. The girl quickly sat up in the bed and the covers fell from their position to reveal a brightly colored pink bra. I gazed at the girl in front of me for a few moments, mostly lost to the fact that she was almost naked, before a loud bang and two worried faces appeared in the doorway of the room.

"Is everything alright, I heard...screaming...?" Skittles asked, trailing off at the last part. She looked at the spectacle in front her before her eyes fell onto me.

"What are you two doing?" she yelled, a slight blush adorning her face. I stared at Skittles for a second before looking back at the smiling girl on the bed.

"Well, I wanted to make sure my new friend would be okay after Shy performed surgery on him. So I decided to wait all night to see if he needed anything. Then I started to get sleepy and climbed into bed with him, hoping that if he needed anything he would see me and could then ask," Pinkie replied, receiving an angry look from Skittles.

"But what are you doing sleeping in the same bed with him without a shirt on?" Skittles retorted, receiving another happy smile from Pinkie.

"Well nobody sleeps in regular clothes, duh," Pinkie said, stepping out of bed to reveal she also only had on her bright pink underwear as well. My face grew red with embarrassment and I quickly found myself looking away. Rainbow grew even angrier, while Shy just stood next to the door, quietly blushing as much as Skittles, but hid her face behind most of her light pink hair. My eyes were constantly shifting around the room, waiting for someone to speak. Pinkie just held her smile, while Skittles was continuing to grow even more annoyed. Thinking fast, I soon broke the silence while getting to my feet.

"So, who's hungry?" I asked, resulting in everyone's eyes moving towards my direction. I smiled and began to walk towards my backpack that was placed in the corner of the room. Kneeling down, I used my good hand to open the top compartment and pulled out four MRE's. With the MRE's in hand, I stood and smiled at everyone.

"This is the only food I have left. I lost most of my supplies when I lost my hummer," I said, walking towards the door and motioning for everyone to follow me. Everyone nodded their head and we soon found ourselves downstairs. Walking by the living room and towards the kitchen, I noticed that the bodies of the men I killed were still lying out in the open. I made a mental note to do something about it before entering kitchen. Luckily the others quickly passed the dead bodies and were soon in the kitchen me. Walking over towards the fridge I placed my hand on the handle and gave it light pull. The fridge opened and I looked inside. I smiled and pulled out a few water bottles among the dozens that were in the fridge. Seeing as there was no power to the house, the water bottles were room temperature, but it didn't really matter. I closed the fridge and set down the water bottles next to the MRE's. By now all of the girls were in the kitchen with me and were standing around awkwardly.

"Take a seat at the table. Breakfast will be served in a few," I said, opening the MRE's and pouring water into them. Skittles, Shy, and Pinkie, who managed to have gotten dress by this point, sat down at the table. All were completely silent until Pinkie broke the silence.

"Soooo...?" Pinkie said in her somewhat hyper tone. Before anyone responded I brought the cooked MRE's to the table. I gently set them all down and started to hand them out to each person.

"I hope you like chicken and rice. It's not much but it will hold us over until we can find more food," I said, grabbing my MRE and beginning to scoop the meal into my mouth with the provided plastic spook that came in the pouch. Everyone stared at me for a few seconds before looking down at their meal. Pinkie was the first to try it. She picked up her plastic spoon and brought a mouthful of the food to her mouth. Within a second of eating it, she dug the spoon in again and quickly ate all of the food in her pouch. Skittles and Shy looked towards one another before digging into the food. Smiles appeared on both of their faces as the food began to settle the rowdiness in their stomachs.

"Good isn't it?" I asked, receiving nods from everyone.

"Yeah, I thought they would be. I have had a few of these before and thought the best was the chicken and rice. That's the only reason I actually had them in my backpack. For fast, easy access to food whenever I needed it. Luckily I brought enough for everyone," I said, interrupting my talk with another bite of my meal.

"Hey, Gear?" Skittles asked, gaining my full attention.

"Yeah Skittles?" I asked.

"Well, I was wondering... how did you find me?" Skittles asked, causing me to set down the spoonful of substance I had and answer her question.

"Remember that necklace I gave you?" I asked, looking at Skittles to see she had it around her neck.

"Yeah, you sort of gave it too me in a rush. Why? Is it important?" she asked, looking down at the necklace.

"It is very important. Without that necklace, I would have never found you," I replied, receiving a confused look from Skittles.

"What? You mean this little necklace led you to me? How?" Skittles asked, again staring at the necklace with more curiosity.

"That necklace has a built in GPS receiver in it. Luckily, satellites haven't fallen victim to any sort of harm, so they are still functioning. Which means that I can find you when I use my GPS." Skittles was speechless, holding the necklace in her hand before she clutched it.

"So I want you to promise me something Skittles," I said, snapping her out of her slight spacing out moment.

"I want you to always wear that necklace. That way, no matter what happens or if we get separated, I can always find my way back to you," I said to Skittles, pointing to the necklace and receiving a nod with a very noticeable blush.

"Also," I said, turning towards Pinkie and Shy.

"I'm not sure if you two want one, but I have spare GPS necklaces if you need them. I am always wearing mine, so if any of us gets separated we can find each other." Shy was speechless, while Pinkie quickly snatched the necklaces and glanced through them all.

"I want this one!" she exclaimed, holding up a brightly colored trio of balloons, that oddly matched the design on her shirt. Shrugging my shoulders, I turned to Shy, who was now looking through the different necklaces.

"See one you like?" I asked, receiving a nod from Shy.

"Oh yes, I simply love this butterfly one. It is ok for me to keep this right?" she worriedly asked. I nodded my head with a small smile.

"Of course it is. Now lets get down to business," I said, spooning another bite into my mouth.

"When do you want to leave?" I asked, not directing the question towards anyone in particular.

"If you wouldn't mind, I want to leave as fast as possible," Skittles replied.

"Wonderful then. Let's gather everything we can find before we go. We need all the help we can get," I said, taking my last bite of food. I set down my empty pouch on the table and stood up. Without looking towards the girls, I began to walk towards the stairs and up to the room my backpack was in, also checking every room to see if I could find anything of use.

About an hour later, I came back downstairs and passed by the living room as quickly as I could, before setting my backpack down on the kitchen table. I then unslung the AR-15 that I held around my body and placed it on the table as well.

"Hey everyone, I need your help," I yelled from the kitchen, hoping that everyone could hear me. A few seconds later and everyone filtered their way into the kitchen.

"Ok, I found almost everything that we could possibly use and stored it in my backpack. We are low on food so that is going to be one of the first things we search for. But anyway, that is not why I called you all here. I need your help. Find me every blanket you can and bring them to me. We need around seven of them," I said, receiving strange looks from everyone.

"But why do you need those?" Skittles asked.

"There is something else I have to do before we leave."

"Okie Doki Loki," Pinkie exclaimed, skipping away to find what I needed. Shy gave a slight nod of her head and went off to help. Skittles was the last one to leave, but after a minute of silence, she nodded her head and went to help.

Ten minutes later, everyone came back with their arms full of different kinds of blankets.

"Thank you, these will work just fine," I said, taking the blankets out of their arms and setting them on the kitchen table.

"Ok, I will be about twenty minutes. Go see if you can find a car in the garage that works. I will be done by then and then we can leave." Skittles nodded her head and the other two girls followed her out of the house. I looked towards the living room and sighed, taking an armful of the blankets and proceeding over towards the dead bodies.

Twenty Minutes Later (Garage)

"Hey Pinkie, have you found the keys yet?" Skittles asked, searching the inside of the garage.

"Nope, but if I do, I will be sure to tell you!" Pinkie exclaimed, still searching merrily for the keys.

"What about you Shy?" Skittles asked, Shy shaking her head. Skittles let out a long sigh and continued to look. A few minutes later I walked into the garage and found the three girls searching for what appeared to be the keys to the car. I smiled and walked further into the garage, getting all of their attention.

"I think you may be looking for these," I said, directing my attention towards Skittles. I then pulled out a large key ring that consisted of multiple keys. Skittles, along with the other two, looked at me with shock.

"Where... where did you find those?" Skittles asked, receiving a sly smile from me.

"I found them in the house. They were on the kitchen countertop." Skittles blushed slightly, apparently embarrassed from not noticing the keys while in the house.

"Anyways," I said, turning towards Pinkie and Shy.

"I have a question to ask you two. You don't have to agree to it if you don't want too, but I would like to know if you two want to accompany Skittles and me. This world is not one we are used to living in and it would probably be safer if you were to come with us. Though I don't know exactly where we are going or what dangers we will encounter, I promise you both that I will protect you until my dying breath." A moment of silence filled the garage before Pinkie responded.

"Of course I want to come with you silly. You are too fun to not be around," she happily announced. I smiled and nodded my head before turning my attention towards the other girl.

"And what do you want to do? Do you want to come with us or part ways?" I asked. Shy hid behind her long hair but responded with a quiet voice.

"I would like to come with you... I mean... if that's ok with you that is," she quietly said. I smiled and nodded my head.

"Of course it's fine. You helped save my life. If anything, I owe you."

"Oh," Shy whispered, just loud enough for me to hear before she turned her head and blushed slightly. Feeling the situation become awkward for her, I turned towards the car in garage and opened the door.

"Alright, everyone in," I called, Pinkie and Skittles walking towards the passenger door. They both reached for it and quickly looked towards each other.

"What are you doing, I always ride up front," Skittles asked, somewhat annoyed by Pinkie.

"Well, I like sitting up front. I think it makes every car ride more fun," Pinkie responded. Skittles and Pinkie began to argue with one another, while I sat in the car, my head resting on the steering wheel of the car.

"Uhhh, come on," I quietly whispered to myself. I then got out of the car and watched the two continue to argue.

"Alright, both of you, I can fix this right now," I said, gaining their attention.

"Skittles, you and Pinkie are in the back seat. Shy here is going to sit up front," I said, receiving an 'awww' from Pinkie and a bewildered Skittles.

"What, but why?" Skittles asked.

"Because Shy isn't giving me a migraine from having to listen to you two argue. Now please, just sit in the back with Pinkie and you will get a turn in the front again. We will just have to rotate," I finished. I then looked towards Shy who was still standing next to the car.

"Ok Shy, you have shotgun now," I said, getting back into the car. Skittles and Pinkie reluctantly got into the back seat of the car, while Shy carefully got into the front. Once everyone was in the car, I slid the keys into the ignition and started the car. Luckily, the car started with almost no problems. My first instinct after starting the car was to look at the fuel gauge. To my luck, the full meter read near a full tank of gas.

"Ok everyone, let's go," I yelled, peeling out of the garage, resulting in Shy gripping her seat tight from fear.

In a Forest (Four Days Later)

"Ok, lets pitch the tent up here," I said, setting down my large backpack and taking out the large tent. I began to open the bag that held the tent and took out all of the tools used to pitch it.

"Alright, I think Skittles and I can handle the tent. Shy and Pinkie, can you two get dinner started?" I asked, receiving happy nods from everyone. With Pinkie and Shy cooking dinner, Skittles and I began to pitch the tent. As we were all working, I couldn't help but smile. During the past four days everyone has grown closer. Pinkie and Skittles no longer argue and reminisce about the pranks they used to pull on their friends; Shy has come out of her shell, no longer shy around the three of us, but is still startled easily; and I have learned so much about everyone I never even knew. Pinkie is an expert cook, Shy used to work as an assistant for a vet, and Skittles used to race on a track team. I smiled and continued to pitch the tent with Skittles, finishing after a few minutes. After pitching the tent, I opened my backpack and pulled out my sleeping bag. Unzipping the flap of the large tent, I walked inside and placed my sleeping bag on the canvas flooring. Within a few seconds, the bottom of the sleeping bag began to inflate. I then exited the tent and looked towards the large fire that Pinkie and Shy had made. Grabbing a seat next to Skittles, I waited for Pinkie to finish cooking our meal. About ten minutes had passed before the food was ready.

"Alright everyone, who's hungry?" Pinkie asked, stirring the pot of food that was cooking over the fire. Everyone's mouths started to water as Pinkie began to distribute chicken and rice to everyone. Once everyone had a plate of food, we all began to feast upon the food, telling each other stories about our old lives as we ate.

"And when I came into the room, I was showered with water and flour," I said, laughing along with everyone. It was a few minutes after before I continued the story.

"Yeah, they really got me good. I always loved those two, they were some of the best friends I ever had," I said, finishing with another chuckle.

"What happened to them?" Skittles asked, not really thinking about her question before she asked it. I was a little shocked, but nodded my head slightly before responding.

"They uh, they were killed, about two years ago," I said, in a rather unphased voice.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to bring it up," Skittles quickly replied, receiving a slight laugh from me.

"Don't worry about it. It uh, it wasn't something you knew." A long silence filled the area and only the sound of the crackling fire could be heard. I stood up from my seat and stretched my back. With the satisfying sound of my back cracking, I turned towards everyone and gave a small smile.

"I'm going to take a little walk. I will be back before dark," I said, turning around and heading off into the woods a little ways. Skittles quickly stood up and was about to call out to me, but retracted her actions as I walked off. She looked towards Pinkie and Shy before giving a heavy sigh.

I began to slowly walk through the woods; my head hung low from the previous discussion. I continued to walk for around ten minutes or so before I stopped. I stood motionless; head hung low still, a tear falling to the ground. I took in a few deep breaths and readied myself upright.

"Come on, there was nothing you could do. You were lucky to get out of that alive," I told myself, trying to rationalize with my inner conflict. I nodded my head and let out a long sigh.

"You know they never would have blamed you for what happened," I reasoned with myself. With one last sigh, I turned around and began to head back towards the camp.

It was another ten-minute walk before I had reached the camp. The only indication of the camp was of the burning fire that gave off a faint glow of light. Walking into the clearing, I was met with the eyes of Skittles, who was sitting outside of the tent alone. Once she saw me, she stood up and approached me. Closing the few feet between us, we stood in silence once we both were about foot away from each other.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Skittles said, turning her head to the side. I gave a small smile before placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked towards my eyes and could tell they were filled with a sense of warmth and comfort.

"No need to be sorry Skittles," I said, lifting my hand off of her shoulder.

"Come on, let's get some sleep." With a warm smile, I opened the tent flap before Skittles walked in. I followed after her and closed the flap. Looking around the tent, I noticed that my sleeping bag had made its way between Shy and Skittle's sleeping bags. This has been going on for the past few days, not that I am complaining. The thought of me near them seems to put them both at ease. Smiling to myself, I got into my sleeping bag and stared at the ceiling of the tent. Once Skittles had entered her sleeping bag, I began to fall into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, images of that day still lingered in my mind; haunting me both while awake and asleep.


	5. A New Addition

**Enjoy the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and whatnot. Sorry I havent been updating that often (School and whatnot) But I will try to get a few more chapters out over Spring Break. Anyways, make smart decisions and be safe everypony. -Asianpon3-**

Chapter 5

Forest (2:00am)

I slowly began to open my eyes, seeing only darkness around me. I slowly undid my sleeping bag and stood up quietly, making sure not to wake the others. I then unzipped the tent flap and walked out into the cool, early morning breeze.

"Damn it's cold," I softly said to myself, shivering as I did. I zipped up the tent flap again, making sure to keep the inside warmth from escaping. I then began to walk towards the woods, trying to find a good place out of eyesight to relieve myself. Standing about five feet or so into the woods, I undid my zipper and began to relieve myself. A minute later, I had zipped up my pants and proceeded towards the tent again. I was stopped mid-step, hearing the sound of crackling leaves. I turned my head around and noticed a pair of yellow eyes glaring at me. I froze in fear as a wolf appeared from the thicket of bushes just behind me. After regaining a grip on myself, I turned around and faced the approaching wolf. I drew my knife that was holstered to my right leg and took a fighting stance.

"Bring it you stupid fur ball," I said, waiting to make my move. The wolf pounced, but was met with my blade in the side of its temple. It fell to the ground lifeless. I smirked at the wolf, but my celebration was short lived. Hearing more rustling in the bushes, three more wolves appeared. I stood my ground, but the wolves slowly began to encircle me. With almost no time to think, I made a rational decision; to save the girls and try to lure the wolves away, or fight here and maybe put the girls in danger if I don't succeed. With my mind already made up, I began to sidestep to the left. Looking down a path, I noticed a clear straightaway in the moonlight. With my chance of luring the beasts away slowly fading, I dug my feet into the ground and sprinted off down the path. The wolves took the bait and began to pursue me through the forest. Surprisingly, I was no match for the four-legged beasts, and within a few seconds, they were right behind me. Luckily, the adrenaline in my system allowed me to dodge most of their lunges, resulting in the wolf momentarily staggered, but then back in the chase. The chase had gone on for several minutes before one of the wolves landed a successful lunge. The wolf dug its razor sharp fangs into the side of my leg and I lost my balance. Upon losing my balance, I failed to notice the large steep hill that was in front of me and began to roll down, my leg in an increasing amount of pain. Landing where the hill flattened at the base, my vision began to grow fuzzy. The last thing I remember was a bright red light of what appeared to be a signal flair, then a shadowy figure in strange attire and long blonde hair. With my coconscious slowly fading, I reached out with my hand to confirm if the image was an illusion or not. Before I could, my body began to slowly fade and I passed out.

Camp (8:00am)

Skittles awoke from her sleep by the gentle shaking of her friend Shy. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Skittles sat up in her sleeping bag and let out a yawn.

"Shy, why are you waking me up this early?" Skittles tiredly asked. Shy slunk back slightly but pointed towards my empty sleeping bag.

"I haven't seen Gear this morning. I even went outside but still couldn't find him. I don't know if something bad happened to him, but I was just worried is all," Shy said, causing Skittles to be alerted.

"Wait, how long have you been up for?" Skittles asked. Shy thought for a moment before responding with only an hour or so. At this time, Skittles shot up out of her sleeping bag and was fully awake.

"Wha... what?" The loud outburst woke Pinkie from her sleep. She sat up in her sleeping bag and stretched her arms with a loud yawn.

"Good morning everyone," she said in her trademark energetic attitude. She was met with two worried faces.

"Why do you two seem worried? Did something happen?" Pinkie asked.

"Yes, Gear is missing," Skittles replied. Pinkie soon had a worried look on her face too.

"What... what should we do?" Shy asked.

"We need to go look for him. Let's see if we can find something around camp that could tell us where he is." The two others nodded their head and quickly got out of their sleeping bags. They all exited the tent and began searching for their lost friend.

Ten Minutes Later

"You find anything?" Skittles called out, searching the outskirts of the woods. She was met with a deafening scream coming from Shy. Skittles and Pinkie quickly ran towards her and gasped at what they saw. It was a dead wolf that was covered in dried blood. All three girls backed away from the dead body before racing back to the camp. Shy sat down on a log and began to shake, slightly crying as well. Pinkie tried to comfort Shy, while Skittles went back into the tent. A few minutes later Skittles came out with my AR15 and GPS tracker.

"What are you doing?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm going to find him. I can use the GPS tracker he used to find me," Skittles said, turning on the device. After a minute of startup, she began to search the settings. A few seconds later, Skittles had already found me on the GPS, about two miles away from the current location. Wasting no time she began to walk through the woods, Shy and Pinkie closely behind her.

Forty-Five Minutes Later

"What is this place?" Shy quietly asked, examining the surrounding area. Skittles scanned the contents of the area, noticing that there was a rather large field of apple trees accompanied with a mid-sized farmhouse in the middle.

"I don't know Shy. It seems to be some kind of orchard or something. The important part is that Gear is inside that building," Skittles said, her eyes fixated on the farmhouse.

"Who do you think lives there?" Shy asked again. Skittles shook her head and gripped the AR-15 tighter.

"I'm not sure, but he is probably holding Gear hostage. We need a plan of action," Skittles concluded. Pinkie bounced up and down a little, holding her hand up in the air as to signify that she had a plan. Before anyone could remark she began to explain her plan to everyone.

"How about we just ask if we can have Gear back?" Pinkie asked, Skittles face-palming herself.

"We can't just ask if he we can have him back. If he sees us, we will lose the element of surprise. We need to either sneak around and surprise attack, or just sneak in, grab him, and run for it," Skittles said, both Shy and Pinkie nodding.

"Alright, let's go then." Skittles stood up from her crouched position, followed by Pinkie and Shy, before they moved towards the front of the farmhouse. A moment later, their backs were against the front of the farmhouse, listening intently for any signs of a threat. The only noise they could hear was a faint mumbling followed by a loud screech of pain they recognized as their friend. Skittles gripped the AR-15 as tight as she could before she clicked the safety off. She then turned to her two friends and motioned for them to get ready. After hearing another loud screech of pain, she rushed through the front door of the farmhouse, gun at the ready. What she saw confused her. Standing in front of her was a young adult female, possibly in her late teens or early twenties. She had long blonde hair with a plaid shirt and blue jeans. The most noticeable feature was a leather cowgirl hat that was positioned snuggly on top of her head.

"What in tarnation are you doing in my house?" the angry female spoke, standing up from the couch to reveal a familiar face, but with a few more cuts and bruises than before.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" Shy worriedly asked, taking a step towards me before she was met with a revolver towards her from the angry female.

"Yall never answered my question. What are yall doing in mah house?" the girl spoke again, the pistol at the ready. Hearing a few grunts of pain, everyone turned their attention towards the couch. I forced myself into a sitting position and then stood up from the couch. I walked over towards the female with the drawn pistol and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry A.J., they are with me," I said, A.J. eyeing the intruders one last time before lowering her pistol. I smiled and then looked towards the rest of my friends.

"Skittles, you can lower the gun now," I said, taking a few steps to grab the gun from her. Skittles was confused, along with Pinkie and Shy, but lowered the gun and handed it over to me. I smiled and made my way back to the couch, taking a sitting position after I set the gun on the side of the couch. I was then followed by A.J. who took a seat next me. Pinkie was the first to move out of the three girls, followed by Shy, who despite being terrified of the new person, took a seat on the opposite side of me before she began to examine my injuries. Skittles was the last to move and did so with a skeptical motion, still not trusting the new person either. She took a seat next to Pinkie, on the opposite couch that was facing me.

"So what happened to you that caused all these injuries?" a worried Shy asked, causing me to laugh a little.

"Well, I woke up to relieve myself in the middle of the night. After I did, I started walking back to the tent and then got jumped by a pack of wolves. I managed to kill one of them, but there were more of the little bastards. So I decided that I had to draw them away from all of you, making myself bait. As you can see, it didn't turn out too well," I said, another laugh following.

"But how did you end up all the way out here silly?" Pinkie asked, her smile still radiating as ever.

"It's actually thanks to A.J. here. If it weren't for her, I would probably be wolf food. She frightened them away and then took me here to look after my wounds. I owe her a debt of gratitude," I said, causing the cowgirl to blush lightly.

"Aw, shucks. Think nothin of it. Just glad I could help out partner," she said, causing an angry glare to beam across the room towards her from Skittles.

"So what do we do now?" Pinkie asked energetically.

"Well, your friend here got pretty banged up," A.J. responded, chuckling slightly to herself.

"I think it would be wise to let him have a few days to recover from his injuries. Yall can stay here if you want. But if you do, then you are going to have to work for a little bit. Apples don't pick themselves you know," A.J. said, chuckling again.

"Okie Dokie Loki," Pinkie said in understanding.

"I agree with A.J. on this. Gear is no condition to really do anything. All he should be doing is resting," Shy agreed, A.J. smiling at the comment. Skittles let out a huff of frustration, then a long sigh.

"Fine. But we are only doing this for Gear," Skittles quickly stated before looking away with a small huff.

"Great. I have a couple of spare rooms for yall to use. They are just down the hall and to the left. How bout I get yall settled in and then we can get to work tending to the apple trees," A.J. said, standing up and motioning them to the their rooms. I waited idly on the couch as A.J. settled in her new guests. She soon returned a few minutes later, taking a seat on the couch next to me again.

"I'm sorry about all of this A.J. We don't meant to intrude into your house and life, but thank you so much for everything you are doing," I said, making the cowgirl blush again.

"Like I said earlier partner, think nothing of it. Tell ya the truth, I was kinda lonely out here all by myself. Been living in this part of the woods for round a year or so. It's nice to get visitors," A.J. said, receiving a smile from me.

"And it is good to be welcomed into a peaceful home. So again, thank you. Even though I am injured, I will also do my best to help," I said, eliciting a laugh from the cowgirl.

"To be honest, you would be as helpful as a three-legged horse trying to plow my entire property," A.J. responded, making me laugh as a response.

"Well maybe not so much manual labor, but I will see what I can do around here. I have a lot of experience fixing things. Anything broken that I could take a crack at?" I asked. A.J. paused for a moment and put a hand to her chin to think. Well, you could try getting the old generator running again. I have a lot of gasoline for it, but for some reason, it just aint working. Maybe overheated and melted something inside, I don't really know. But if you could do that, it would be much appreciated." I smiled at this and nodded my head.

"Finally, a challenge. I can't promise anything, but I will try my best to get it running again. Hopefully a two-year break from school hasn't completely made me useless," I said, laughing at my own joke. A.J. smiled and stood back up from the couch.

"Just don't go hurting yourself anymore there partner," she said with a content smile, walking back towards the guest rooms to fetch her new workers. I looked towards the clock that was hanging on the wall, but even though it was no working, I still had a relatively good idea of what time it was. I sighed to myself and looked outside.

"It is going to be a very long day," I said, standing up and walking outside towards the generator.

Two Days Later (8:00pm)

"God damn it," I yelled, shaking my head in the air in pain. A light chuckle could be heard from behind me, causing me to turn my head. A.J. was standing a few feet behind me, a smirk on her face.

"Watcha ya doing there partner?" she asked, her southern drawl making me forget the fact I just burned myself.

"Well, I am just trying to solder these wires back to the main output. It is what seems to be the cause of the generator not working. Unfortunately, I don't have a soldering iron, so I am forced to heat my knife in order to make the connection. I wasn't paying too much attention to the knife after I made one of the connections and burned my hand as a result. That's when you walked in and I began to explain what happened up to this point. And here we are now," I finished, sounding somewhat like a smartass. This only made A.J. laugh and nod her head.

"I can see that partner. But you should take a break, besides; dinner will be ready be ready here soon," I smiled and nodded my head.

"Yeah, I guess I should take a break...," my eyes shifting back to the generator. "But can I have five more minutes. I am so close to fixing it," I pleaded half-heartedly. A.J. let out another chuckle and nodded her head.

"I guess you can. Just don't go and tucker yourself out. You should be resting remember?" she asked, glancing at my bandaged arm.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I will be in a few minutes though, hopefully to a well lit house with hot water and air-conditioning." I chuckled at the last part, knowing full well that I would have to fight four women for use of the shower. A.J. nodded her head with a smile before wandering off back into the farmhouse. I then turned my attention to the generator again.

"Alright you stupid thing. You better work," I threatened, heating the tip of my knife with a small lighter and soldering the last connector to the main output.

Five Minutes Later

I opened the screen door that led into the main living room of the farmhouse. A wide smile was spread across my face when I walked into the electrically lit living room of the farmhouse.

"Ha. I knew I could fix that generator," I proudly boasted, walking through the living room and into the kitchen where everyone was happily enjoying the luxury of artificial lighting. I was greeted with several wide smiles and a large plate of food. I took a seat at the kitchen table before we all decided to dig in.

"I can't believe ya managed to fix that darn generator," Applejack said, stuffing another portion of food into her mouth. I smiled sheepishly at the praise but shrugged my shoulders to play it off.

"It was nothing really. Just a little something I learned back in school," I subtly replied. A.J eyed me before asking a question that was rather surprising.

"You have a girl while you were there?" she asked. The shock of the question caused me to choke on a small bite of food I was eating. Forcing the food down, I looked up at her and saw that she was still curious as to the answer. I cleared my throat a few times, taking a swig of water before I capped the plastic bottle and answered her question.

"Well... no," I replied, laughing after I told her. All the girls in the room, except for Pinkie, wore facial expressions of shock and confusion.

"What? You must have had the girls all over ya, with ya being so nice and all," A.J. quickly responded, eliciting another laugh from me.

"Oh, I agree. You really are nice," Shy commented, making me stop my laughter and nod in agreement.

"It is true that I am nice, but I was more focused on other things at the time," I calmly spoke, Dash raising an eyebrow in response.

"What were you doing that kept you so busy?" Dash asked, the others also interested in the question.

"Well, duh. He was partying!" Pinkie exclaimed. All eyes fell on her and she gave a sheepish grin.

"Not exactly Pinkie. I was never the partier type. I was the more, oh lets stay inside and either study or play video games with my friends online. Aside from that, I never really had time for a relationship," I finished. Everyone sat in silence for a few moments, thinking about what I had just said.

"Did you ever want one?" Dash asked. My face turned a bright crimson red and I turned my head away from everyone to avoid eye contact.

"Well, of course I wanted a relationship. I just also wasn't very good at talking to girls," I shyly confessed, looking down my plate and using my fork to play with the food. Both A.J. and Dash looked at me with an inner smirk. I slowly took another bite of my food, my head still lowered to the plate. A few bites later and I was finished with the rest of my plate. I looked up to see that A.J. and Dash were eyeing me, but in a way that I didn't quite understand.

"Oh, ok. I think I'm going to retire for the night. Fixing that generator has taken a lot out me," I said, followed by a yawn.

"I agree. We got more work to do in the morning. We best be getting some shuteye," A.J. said, everyone else nodding their heads in agreement.

"Alright, I will see you all in the morning then. Goodnight," I said, making my way out of the kitchen and onto the sofa. I gently positioned my bandaged arm carefully on the couch before making myself comfortable; my head against the pillow staring up at the ceiling as I heard everyone retreat to their rooms for the night.

"Goodnight," they all said, walking past me and giving a genuine smile. I smiled and wished them goodnight again, before silence filled the living room. With my good arm, I pulled a large blanket over me, feeling the warmth of the blanket. A few minutes passed while I laid still, thinking about my life and the decisions I have made. A few more minutes later and I was out cold.


	6. No Place Like Home

**Hope you all enjoy. New chapter out with a few funny stuff thrown in there. Anyway, dont forget to leave a comment/review and yeah. Make smart choices and love you all! -Asianpon3- **

**P.S. HI Collin. Internet Spaceships!**

Chapter 6

I awoke from an uncomfortable position, my bandaged arm hanging slightly off the couch. I sat up and began so slowly extend my sore arm, a slight pain in my upper shoulder and arm, but bearable. After moving my arm to its resting position, I looked towards a small window to see that it was still dark outside. It was around dawn and the sun was just beginning to rise. Deciding that I probably wouldn't be able to get back to sleep I rose from the couch and stretched the rest of my body. I was greeted with several low pops and crunches. I took in a deep breath and exhaled before digging into my backpack and retrieving my toothbrush, toothpaste, and razor. Seeing how nobody was up around this time, I was going to take advantage of this and use the shower. My body had not had a proper bathing in a while, so it would be refreshing to cleanse myself and shave any excess facial hair I had. Once in the bathroom, I turned on the water and allowed it to warm up. I spent the next minute or so brushing my teeth and undressing myself. I then stepped into the shower and let the warm water sooth my muscles and wash over my body. Dirt and grime began to fade from my body as the water continued to rush over me. I reached for a bar of soup and began to scrub my body, eliminating any remaining filth I had on me. Washing the soap off of my body, I reached for a container of shampoo and squirted a glob into my hand. I then began the process of washing my hair, scrubbing my scalp and massaging my head with my good arm. Washing the shampoo out of my hair, I grabbed my razor that was set on the side of the shower and began to shave all the facial hair I had accumulated over the past week or so. Feeling cleansed and refreshed, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a towel on the towel rack, I started to dry myself off. A few moments later and I was completely dressed. I hung up the towel on the towel rack to dry and made my way to the bathroom door. I open the door and stepped out, running into something before I found myself falling on top of it. We landed with a thud and my arm gave a rearing jolt of pain through it. I opened my eyes and looked at what I had hit. I completely ignored the pain in my arm as I saw what, or who, was lying under me. It was Skittles, her face bright red with embarrassment and speechless. I was puzzled before I realized what had happened, causing my face to turn a shade of vibrant red. The towel that had been wrapped around Skittles was now lying on the floor a few inches away from us. We stared at each other for a moment before she let out a girlish shriek.

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" I yelled, quickly getting off her and covering my eyes with my good arm. By this time I had completely forgotten about the pain in my arm and was only concerned with getting away from Skittles as fast as I could. Before I could move anywhere away from her, I felt the palm of her hand connect with the side of my face, making a loud smacking sound. I yelled in pain as Skittles quickly ran into the bathroom and closed the door. A moment later, I heard the door lock. Wobbly getting to my feet, I looked down the corridor to see A.J. staring at me with a grin on her face. No doubt she wasn't going to let this go easily. She walked towards me and helped me to the kitchen table in the other room. After helping me sit down she went over to a coffee pot and rummaged around a cabinet until she brought out a metal tin can, filled with coffee grounds I assumed. She then emptied a portion of it into the top compartment of the coffee pot and began to brew a batch. She then sat down at the table with me, the grin still plastered on her face. I looked at her and then sighed. This was going to be a very long day.

Two Hours Later

The rest of the morning was, awkward so to say. Every time I would happen to see Skittles she would quickly look away from me or leave the room, her face always red with embarrassment. This made breakfast particularly awkward. The entire time, Skittles never spoke; her face towards her plate while A.J. had a large grin on her face, almost as if she was enjoying the situation. Pinkie and Shy were confused as to what had happened between Skittles and me, but chose to disregard in order to not escalate the situation.  
Once breakfast was over everyone began to attend to their duties on the farm, which was to gather apples from the surrounding apple trees. I on the other hand, was in the house lying on the couch with nothing to do.

An hour or so passed before I rose from the couch and grabbed my AR-15. I then proceeded out of the farmhouse and into the field searching for where everyone was.

Ten minutes later and I found everyone near the northwest fields. Their buckets were relatively full and they all continued to work until they saw me.  
"Well howdy there Gear. What are you doing out here?" A.J. asked.  
"I'm actually going to go hunting. Seeing how the generator is fixed, I thought I would try to get us some game," I responded, A.J. wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"That sounds like a mighty fine plan there. But you think someone should go with you, since yall still hurt and all?" A.J. asked, me pausing for a moment to think about it.

"I guess that would be a good idea. But you are all working right now and I don't want to pull you away from that."  
"Don't worry bout that. Skittles can go with you. I know you two had a little bit of a rough mornin, so this should be good for both of you. Let me go get her," A.J. said, walking away from me and returning with Skittles a minute later.  
"Hey Skittles, yall are going to accompany each other while Gear here is hunting," A.J. said, Skittles turning bright red and looking towards A.J. with a shocked expression.

"Wha... what? You can't. I mean, I still have work to do here," Skittles replied defensively, but received a smile.  
"Don't worry bout that. I can handle it. Just go with Gear and make sure he doesn't hurt himself," A.J. said, then turning her attention to me.

"Alright, I expect you to catch us some dinner." A.J. smiled and then turned off towards Shy and Pinkie.  
"See yall in a while," she said, beginning to get back to work. I looked at Skittles, who looked at me, then straight and me down at the ground. I sighed mentally to myself.

"This is going to be fun," I sarcastically said to myself, walking off into the wood with Skittles.  
Three Hours Later

"So, you have been awfully quiet today," I said, stepping over a large tree root followed by Skittles.

"Oh, I have?" she asked, eliciting a sigh from me before I stopped and turned to face her.

"Skittles, we need to talk," I said, laying my AR-15 against a tree and then sitting down on the ground.  
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened this morning. I was just getting out of the bathroom and didn't even realize you were there. It was an accident and I'm sorry," I said, Skittles sitting down and looking at the ground without a response.  
"Do you hate me because of it?" I asked, Skittles raising her head up and shaking it.  
"No, I don't hate you," Skittles quickly said.  
"Then what is it? Are you the type of the person that likes and eye-for-an-eye? Cause I can strip right now for you," I said, beginning to take my shirt off.  
"Wha... what are you doing?" Skittles shockingly asked, the shirt now completely off me.  
"I'm doing an eye-for-an-eye," I responded standing up and unbuttoning my pants.  
"No, that's not what I want," Skittles quickly said, standing up and rushing over to me. I was about to strip off my pants when Skittles stopped me.  
"What? You don't want me to continue? I'm like halfway done," I asked, Skittles shaking her head with a laugh.  
"No, I understand," she said, both us beginning to laugh. I then buttoned my pants up again and grabbed my shirt before placing it on myself. We both looked at each other and began to laugh again.  
"So we good now?" I asked, Skittles slugging me playfully in the arm as a response.  
"Yeah, we're good."  
A few hours later and we had finally returned from our hunting expedition. During our time hunting we had managed to bag two foxes. A.J. happily took them and did the job of skinning and gutting the animals. Shy was distant while A.J. did this task, though I don't blame her at all. In the meantime everyone else was in the living room, relaxing and enjoying each other's company. A.J. joined us while the meat was cooking and within another half an hour, dinner was served.  
"Wow A.J. this is really good," I said, talking another bite out of my fox leg.  
"Aw shucks. This here is just some old fashioned cookin," she responded. We all continued to eat, making small talk and idle chatter as everyone slowly finished their meals.

"Alright everyone. I'm gonna go out for a bit. I will be back shortly," A.J. said, all of us nodding our heads as she left.

An hour had passed and there was till no sign of A.J.

"Where do you think she went?" Shy asked, Pinkie raising her hand high into the air.  
"I know, I know. She was abducted by spooky space aliens," Pinkie yelled.  
"I don't think that is exactly what happened. Don't worry; I will go find her. Shouldn't be too hard to find her with my night vision," I said, getting up from the couch and grabbing my night vision from the side table I was using as a nightstand. A minute later and I was out the door and searching for A.J.

A few minutes into my search and I managed to find where A.J. was. She was sitting quietly on a hill; three large rocks lay in front of her. I approached the area and sat down next to her, A.J. sighing as she saw me.

"Who were they?" I asked, looking at the rocks that I assumed were tombstones.  
"They were, they were mah family," she softly replied.  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring them up," I said, A.J. nodding her head with a smile.  
"Don't worry bout it Sugarcube. They are in a better place right now," A.J. said, staring up at the moon. There was a moment of silence before I brought up a question.

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?" I asked.

"They, they were killed when the disease started to spread," she replied, me sitting in silence for a moment before asking another question.  
"What were their names?" I asked, trying to be courteous.

"Well, there were three of them. There was my brother; we used to call him Big Mac because he was so strong. There was my granny, we called her Granny Smith. And then there was my younger sister. We called her Applebloom because she loved to watch the apples bloom when they were in season," A.J. said before laughing. "Applebloom was always so happy and carefree," A.J. said, reminiscing about her sister. She then turned to me and smiled.

"You have any family before this thing started?" she asked, me shaking my head with a laugh.

"Nope. I was actually an orphan believe it or not," I said, shocking A.J.

"Wait, you were an orphan?" A.J. asked, me nodding my head.

"Yep. Parents died when I was young. Taken in a by an abusive family who only wanted the money for themselves that the government supplied."

"That sounds terrible. You mean to tell me that you didn't have any real family?" A.J. shockingly asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Though I don't dwell on the fact they used me. They were sent to prison when I was fifteen for fraud, exploitation, and abuse to a minor. They basically had to pay me four hundred thousand dollars because I had to put up with them for over ten years.  
"That is still horrible though," A.J. said, making me laugh.

"It is, but what will you do?" I asked, chuckling again. There were a few moments of silence before A.J. asked another question.

"Did you ever feel lonely?" she asked. I stopped my mild laughter and nodded my head.

"Yeah, I did. I didn't have many friends and no real family just made it worse. I thought that maybe somewhere down the line, I could have my own family and be a loving and caring parent with a wonderful wife and kids. But I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon," I replied, before feeling A.J. rest her head on my shoulder.

"You don't have to be alone anymore," she quietly said, a blush soon forming on my face. We stayed in that position for around ten minutes or so before she finally lifted her head.

"Alright, I think we should get back before they wonder where we wondered off too," A.J. said, standing up and dusting the grass off of her shorts and legs. I stood up right after her.

"Yeah. Don't want them thinking we got lost or something," I chuckled to myself. We both stared at each other with a smile on our faces before we heard a loud scream come from the direction of the barn. I instantly went into alert mode and began running back to the barn with A.J. in tow.

"A.J. you still have that revolver with you?" I asked.

"Sure do. Here you go partner," she said, handing me the revolver as we stopped for a moment.

"Thank you. Now I want you too wait at the edge of the woods for me. I am going to check out what is going on," I said, A.J. nodding her head. We arrived at the edge of the forest a few minutes later and were met with a horrifying sight. The entire farmhouse was on fire. What made it worst was the group of men that were throwing Molotov cocktails at the house. Two of the men brandished shotguns while the other one had a wooden bat. I then turned to A.J. and began to direct her.

"A.J. listen carefully. I want you to stay here. Everything will be alright, ok?" I said, A.J. nodding her head in compliance as I bolted for the trio of men. With the revolver drawn, I closed the gap between the group of men. Once I was within range, I opened fire, killing the two shotgun wielders first. I then ran over to the third fleeing member and shot him in the back of the leg. He fell to the ground in pain and began to scream loudly. I walked over to the man and rolled him over, seeing a middle aged man with a full-grown beard. He was overweight and fit the general redneck stereotype.

"Who the hell are you?" I yelled, brandishing the revolver at him. The man coughed up blood but laughed maliciously.

"You don't know me, but you know him," the man said, followed by a weak laugh. "You can never leave him. He is coming for you and he will kill you," the man said, coughing up another portion of blood. With not sympathy from me, I put the last bullet of the revolver into the man's head. I dropped the revolver on the ground and was once again horrified when I heard screams from inside. Not even thinking about my own safety, I rushed into the crumbling house, trying to search for the source of the voice. I then noticed that everyone was huddled in a corner of the main living room, my AR-15 only a few feet away. I began to reach for it before I heard a shout from Skittles.

"Don't do it, you will burn your hands," she yelled, me looking back at my AR-15 and then deciding to leave it.

"Alright, is everyone here?" I asked, counting the three girls to make sure they were all there.

"Good, now we need to get the hell out of here," I yelled, helping them up their feet. We then proceeded to the front of the house and I quickly ushered them all out through the burning doorway. Shy was nearing the front of the door, being the last one of the three girls to reach the door. I then heard the sound a support beam crackling under the intense heat. It then gave way as I pushed Shy out the doorway just in time to miss the beam.

"Gear!" Skittles yelled, noticing that the doorway had been blocked.

"I'm fine, I will meet you guys outside. Run for the tree-line," I yelled, Skittles helping Shy up and running to the edge of the forest. I then ran back into the main room of the house, the fire spreading faster with every passing moment. I had to find another way out and fast. An idea soon formulated into my head. It was a rather stupid idea at the time, but the only one I had. I quickly rushed into the kitchen and looked towards the refrigerator. It was an older model and made mostly of hard metal with insulated material. I then opened the main compartment of the fridge and began to de-shelve everything in the fridge. Once it was completely empty, I ran over to the stove and undid the nozzle connecting the propane tank and unit itself. I then dragged the tank next to the fridge and release the valve to let out the propane. As quick as I could, I jumped into the fridge and closed the door. A few moments later and the propane tank exploded, sending wood shrapnel throughout the house, while also propelling my fridge through the fiery walls and out into the open. The explosion collapsed the house. Everyone watched from a distance as their shelter resembled only a pile of ruble. A.J. had tears in her eyes as she dropped to her knees.

"Mah house," she said, starting to cry. Shy quickly began to hug her and try to sooth her.

"It's alright. I'm here. Just let it all out," Shy said, A.J. crying into her friend's shoulder. Skittles on the hand began to panic.

"Gear, Gear!" she yelled, running close to the debris of the house. A.J. soon got a hold of herself and ran up to Skittles.

"Where is he?" A.J. asked, Skittles scanning the fire.

"I don't know. He said he would find another way out," Skittles replied, A.J. shocked at the response.

"What? He was still in the house?" she yelled, Skittles still scanning the fire for any sign of life.

"I, I don't know. He said he would find a way out of the house," Skittles said again, A.J. becoming angry. Before she could do anything though, a noise startled all of them. It sound like a loud bang and everyone began to look around for the source of the sound.

"Gear!" Skittles yelled out again, her eyes finding their way to the fridge. Another loud bang resonated the area and Skittles bolted for the fridge. Once reaching the fridge, she used her shirttail to grasp the handle and open the door. Everyone soon found their way over to the fridge and stared in shock and joy as they saw their friend safely inside.

"Gear, you're alive!" everyone said in unison, me trying to get my head to stop spinning.

"Oh, I am. Well that's great," I said, getting out of the fridge with wobbly feet.

"Gear, are you okay?" Skittles asked, me turning around and facing a tree next to everyone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just... a little dizzy is all?" I said, turning away from the tree while everyone had confused looks upon their faces.

"You sure you are okay there Sugarcube?" A.J. asked, me nodding my head.

"Of course I'm okay. I think I just need a minute to rest," I said, taking a step forward before passing out and collapsing to the ground. Everyone looked at each and then began to giggle.

"He is so silly," Pinkie said, giggling at what had just happened. Everyone nodded their head and I was soon hoisted onto the cowgirl's back.

"Can you handle him alright?" Shy asked, A.J. smirking with a nod.

"Taint nothing. This guy here is a bit on the light side," she said, staring at the remnants of her house.

"Goodbye house. It has been fun," she said before moving into the forest, everyone else right behind her.


	7. New Friends

**Alright, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter. Took me a while to get it out, but here it is anyway. Alright, it's 3am here and im playing some war thunder, so yeah. I will have another chapter out relatively soon, like a week or so. So yeah. Love you all and now its time to destroy some carriers with my torpedo bomber!**

Chapter 7

One Day Later

Rain began to gently drizzle its way from the sky, a soft pattering of water on leaves, as I remained hidden from view. My eyes soon fixated themselves upon a lone fox wandering aimlessly through the woods, searching for any small animal that had the unfortunate luck of becoming his next meal. I watched as the fox continued to trot along a small clearing, getting closer with every few steps. I remained still and silent, the fox continuing its way towards me. The small animal was now only about ten feet away from me. I watched the fox begin to sniff around for any sign of prey. A second later the fox took another step forward and all that resonated from the general area was a loud, high-pitched yelp. I came out from my cover and walked towards the where the fox had been. Staring down at the fox, it had several wooden spikes protruding from its side. To my dismay, the poor creature was still alive. Pulling my knife out of its sheath, I lunged it into the neck of the fox before it lost all movement in its body. Sighing slightly, I slid my knife back into its sheath before pulling the fox out of the hole and removing the erect spikes from the trap. I then started to make my way towards another part of the woods, my clothes soaked with blood from carrying the fox and water from the relentless drizzle of rain.

About ten minutes later and I had finally arrived at a cave, a warm glow emitting from it. I stepped into the cave and laid the fox down on the floor before proceeding to take off my shirt and ring it out. A.J. casually walked over to me and I handed her my knife. She smiled and with the knife in hand, began to skin the fox. Shy was moderately uncomfortable with the scene, so she tried her hardest to look in the other direction. After the laborious task of skinning the fox, A.J. cut off all the edible parts and handed them to Pinkie. Pinkie gratefully took them from A.J. and began to cook the pieces of meat individually with the help of a flat rock laid across the fire. She constantly poked the meat with a fork-like stick, making sure it wouldn't burn. Before long, we had a bountiful feast in front of us. With all the pieces finally cooked, we all began to dig in. It wasn't the most pleasant meal I have had but not eating for an entire day, say for an apple or two, tends to make you forget about how bland something tastes. After all of us devoured our meal, we all let out a sigh of content from our stomachs no longer reminding of us food. I then stood up and walked over to my backpack, the only thing Skittles managed to grab from the burning inferno last night, and pulled out a three large blankets and my GPS. I walked over where everyone was sitting and set down the blankets next to the fire before turning on the GPS. To my relief, the GPS turned on without a problem and as I glanced in top left-hand corner of the screen, the battery life read seventy five percent. I allowed the device to grab our location, a task that took slightly longer due to us being in a cave and the weather outside. After a few minutes, it resounded with a satisfying beep, causing me to begin to scroll through the area we were at.

"What are you doing?" Skittles asked, looking at the GPS screen. I continued my task until I stopped and saved a location in the device.

"I am seeing how far away we are from the nearest town or residence. Luckily, we are nearing a town that will probably be able to help us. It says it has a mall, and by the looks of it. It is medium sized. No doubt we will be able to resupply there and get a few new pairs of clothes. I have basically ruined the ones I own now," I said, laughing slightly as I powered off the GPS and placed it back inside the backpack. I then walked over to the stack of blankets before grabbing the top one and spreading it out like you would a picnic blanket. For being so tightly compacted, I was shocked at how large these blankets really were. I then grabbed the second blanket and folded it multiple times so that the length was the same as the length of the laid out blanket, but not the same as the width. This blanket was going to be used as a large pull body pillow that the four of them would share. The last blanket would be used as an actual blanket to cover them all. Grabbing my shirt from near the fire, I slid it on and was glad that it had thoroughly dried during dinner. I then motioned for all the girls to get up and take whichever spot they wanted. All of them immediately went to a spot on the makeshift bed. Pinkie had the far left, followed by Shy, and Skittles in the middle, and A.J. on the far right side. I smiled as they all wore sleepy expressions on their faces.

"Where you gonna sleep Geary?" Pinkie asked. I waved my hand in dismal before responding.

"I'm just going to lay down and rest my head on my backpack. I don't want to crowd the already crowded bed," I said, laying my backpack down on the ground and using it as a pillow.  
"Well alright there Sugarcube, but if you be gettin chilly or anything, I will move over some and let you share with me," A.J. added. I nodded my head with a thank you before staring up at the ceiling of the cave. It was a dull brownish color with varying shadows because of the fire constantly dancing. I slowly closed my eyes and before long, I was fast asleep.

The Next Day (11:00am)

"How much longer do we have to keep walking?" Skittles asked, my eyes still glued onto the screen of the GPS.

"We are almost there. We have about another half an hour or so before we reach the outskirts of town and then hopefully we can find a car and drive the rest of the way," I responded, Skittles letting out a sigh.

"Don't worry, we can relax when we get to the mall. The GPS says that there is a hotel like half a mile away. So I think we should gather supplies and restock on stuff we need before making our way to the hotel. After that, we can decide what to do from there," I said, continuing to walk as everyone agreed with me.

A few more minutes of idle chatter went by before I heard a thud from behind me. I quickly turned around to see that Shy had fallen to the ground and was struggling to get back to her feet. I quickly walked over to her and helped her up.

"Shy, you ok? I asked, watching as she started wobbling slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired is all," she said. I smiled to myself before I took off my backpack and handed it too Skittles, who promptly took it and slung it around one shoulder. I then turned around and crouched down with my back facing Shy.

"Alright Shy, get on," I said, motioning Shy to get onto my back.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly ask you to do this. I'm fine, really," she replied. Taking a wobbly step past me. I stood up and looked towards A.J. who gave me a nod of understanding. I walked in front of Shy again and crouched down before A.J. came up behind her and practically pushed her onto my back, causing her to let out an adorable squeak as she wrapped her arms lightly around my neck. I quickly grabbed her legs and hoisted her into a more comfortable position before standing up.

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" I asked, Shy blushing slightly before she shook her head.  
"Feel free to take a nap Shy. I know the last two days have been exhausting at the least. I don't mind at all," I said. Shy looked uneasily at me for a moment before resting her head on my back and closing her eyes. With Shy finally resting, we began to trek through the woods again, this time at a slightly slower pace. It would be another hour or so before we finally made it to the outskirts of the town and another hour and a half before arriving at the mall.

Oakdale Mall

"Finally!" Skittles said, walking through the main entrance of the mall. Everyone else followed in behind her, reveling at the sight in front of them.

"I never really been to a fancy place like this before," A.J. commented. Pinkie happily bounced up and down while Shy was standing closely next to me, not excited but content.

"Alright everyone, I doubt anyone is going to be here. So we can split up into groups if you want. I'm going to see if they have a sporting goods store here and see if I can find anything useful," I said.

"Well I'm going to go shopping for some new shoes and shorts. I feel so eh still wearing these," Skittles said, pointing to her outfit that was very dirty and almost in tatters. I laughed slightly and nodded my head.

"Alright. I think you should all stay together, not to mention that A.J. hasn't really been to a mall before. You can show her around and help her pick out a few things," I suggested, Pinkie eyes growing wide.

"Oh my goodness, that's right. You have never been to a mall before. Oh, these places are always so fun. There are so many stores here that you will flip," Pinkie excitedly said, dragging A.J. off towards the main area of the mall. Skittles quickly followed them, a smile on her face, while Shy stayed behind with me.

"You don't want to go with them Shy?" I asked, Shy blushing slightly and shaking her head.

"Umm, I would prefer to stay with you, if that's ok," she asked, being met with a gentle smile from me.

"That is completely fine. We can go shopping together if you would like. I would like to go to the sporting goods store first though. Is that ok with you?" I asked, receiving a happy nod from Shy.

"Alright, lets see if we can find a directory around here," I said, starting to walk off with Shy next to me.

An Hour Later

"Alright Shy, what do you think?" I asked, stepping out from a changing room to reveal my new appearance. Completely new clothes replaced my old and tattered ones. I had on regular blue jeans with a black belt with red trim outlining the sides. A plain dark green t-shirt hugged my somewhat muscular body, revealing my figure all too well. Shy had a faint blush on her face, looking me up and down before nodding her head with a smile.

"Oh, I really like it," she responded. I turned around and faced the mirror in the dressing room.

"I like it too. I miss casual clothes," I said, turning back around and facing Shy.

"Ok Shy, it's your turn," I said, Shy's blush growing.

"Oh, I'm fine with these clothes, really," she said, causing me to laugh a little.

"Shy, it's ok. You don't have to Shy or worried around me. I'm will be right here if you need me, ok?" I asked, Shy hesitant at first, but then nodded her head. She slowly stood up and walked over to the women's section of the clothing store. Selecting a few pairs of pants and shirts, then making her way over to the underwear and bra section. Knowing how shy she really is, I took this time to leave her sight and go find myself a new pair of shoes, along with several pairs of socks. About ten minutes had passed before I had my new shoes on. There were black boots similar to the military style one issued to soldiers. There were all terrain and water-resistant. This would make outdoor walking or adventuring a hundred times easier. It was then I heard a small voice from behind me speak up.

"Umm, how do I look?" the voice asked. I turned around and stared in awe at Shy. She had on light brown capris with a yellow, long sleeved sweater. I couldn't tell what type of shirt she had on, only that the sweater hid it. It took me a few seconds to snap out of my daze and properly respond to Shy.

"You look amazing," I said; Shy quickly hiding her face and blushing even more. I then walked up next to her and had a sincere smile on my face.

"Let's find us a few more outfits and then we can go see where the others are," I said, Shy looking up at me and smiling. We spent the next half an hour finding new outfits while we merrily talked and laughed with one another.

Half an hour later and we were both walking out of the store, a few new outfits for each of us including accessories. I managed to find a pair of top of the line sunglasses and a watch. Since I didn't have to pay for anything, I thought I might as well treat myself. Shy had managed to find herself a small bracelet and anklet, along with a white cloth belt for her capris. She was wearing a pair of brown sandals, but had a pair of shoes in case she needed them. The clothes were snuggly tucked within our backpacks. My backpack that I had scavenged from the sporting goods store, and Shy's backpack she got from the store we just came out of. Aside from just clothes in my backpack, I also had a few accessories I picked up from the sporting goods store tucked inside, just in case we ran into anything hostile.

Continuing down the walkway of the mall, we continued to keep walking until we heard a noise come from a store to our left, followed by talking and laughter. I looked up at the store's name and did a double take as I read the name.

"Victoria's Secrect... this is going to be good," I sarcastically told myself, fully aware of the awkward situation I was about to walk into.

Upon entering the store, I looked around and saw the three girls had their backs turned towards Shy and me. We quietly walked up behind them and a sly smile came across my face. They were all staring at different kinds of underwear, laughing and giggling as they picked up certain pairs to see A.J.'s reaction. Since A.J. had never really been to a mall before, it was safe for me to assume the idea of risqué clothing such as underwear and bras were a foreign concept and also made her slightly uncomfortable. It was then that Skittles picked up a blue thong and a devilish smile spread across her face.

"Hey A.J., why not try this," Skittles said, laughing as A.J. held her head low and ignored her. I saw this as my opportunity to strike. If the situation was going to be awkward, might as well have fun with it right? I skillfully leaned towards Skittles, her laughter trumping any small sound I made.

"I think it would look better on you," I seductively said, Skittles yelping in surprise and almost knocking A.J. over as she jumped towards her. She quickly spun around and started to stutter when she saw me standing in front of her while laughing hysterically.

"Tha... that's not funny," Skittles yelled, my laughter slowly subsiding.

"I thought it was. Your reaction and the look on your face were so worth it. I really wish I had a camera for that," I said, Skittle's face growing red with embarrassment. Pinkie and A.J. had begun to laugh as I walked over to Skittles and put an arm around her shoulder.

"In all honesty though, you do look good in blue," I said, hoping to prompt another mini freak-out. Instead I was met with a rather unexpected reply.

"You... really think so?" she asked, catching me totally off guard. It was now my turn to stutter and blush slightly as I replied to the question.

"Umm, yeah, you do look good in blue. Seems to match perfectly with your hair," I said, Skittles blushing even more as an awkward silence filled the entire room. I quickly clasped my hands together and began to speak to alleviate the silence.

"Alright then. Well, we basically just got finished shopping, and judging by the backpacks you all have on, I assume you are almost done as well?" I asked, Pinkie nodding her head profusely.

"Yep, yep, yep. I mean, you should see some of the awesome clothes we got. Mine are all pink, or mostly pink anyway, or just my shirts actually. But I also have some blue jeans, and some shorts, and some blue jean shorts. It's really cute!" Pinkie exclaimed. I was barely able to keep up with everything she was saying because she was speaking so fast. I laughed a little and nodded my head.

"Well great Pinkie. I'm sure I will see them soon enough," I said, turning to A.J. and Skittles.

"You two get all the clothes you need?" I asked, both of them nodding their heads.

"Alright then." I then turned around to see Shy standing a little ways away from us.

"You all finish up in here. I will give you all some privacy." And with that, I left the store and proceeded outside into the walkway area.

Ten minutes later and everyone filtered out of the store. Now that everyone was stocked up on new clothes, all we needed to do was head back to the sporting goods store to gather some more supplies and find a car to hold. After walking outside the store, the girls noticed that I was intently staring at the large Dillard's across a large open area of the mall. I turned around and motioned them to get down and move closer. Everyone slowly made their way over, Skittles being the first to actually reach me.

"What's wrong?" she asked, everyone right behind her wondering the same thing.

"Look, second story of the Dillard's store. See that office window to the left?" I asked, Skittles looking at it and nodding her head.

"Yeah, what's so special about that office?" Skittles asked.

"Look at it again. You see how there is an actual light emitting from behind the shades. That is artificial light, not natural light. And also, there shouldn't be a skylight in that room, so there should be no light in it at all, unless someone is in there," I finished, everyone seeming to agree with my logic.

"So what are we going to do then?" Skittles asked. I then took off my backpack and dug into the second biggest pouch before pulling out a hatchet I took from the sporting goods store.

"I'm going to check it out. I want you all to stay here, ok?" I said, everyone hesitant.

"Why do you have to go? Can't we just ignore them and leave?" Skittles asked.

"We could, but if they need our help or something, I couldn't live with myself knowing that I abandoned people. If they are hostile and have weapons, then I will kill them and take their guns. Sadly the sporting goods store was looted of their guns, but I did manage to find a medium surplus of assorted ammo types. So if they have a weapon I could use, then I'm going for it," I said, standing up and smiling back to everyone.

"Don't worry, I will be fine. Just wait right here until I say otherwise," I instructed them. They all nodded their heads in compliance as I turned around and made a quiet dash to the downstairs area of the store. Navigating my way up some stairs and scouting out the area, I didn't deem it a threat.

"Whoever is up here, must be in that room still," I thought to myself, walking towards the door with the hatchet drawn. I leaned my ear against the door and listened for any signs of life. I could hear something strange coming from behind the door, like a machine, but didn't know what it was. Taking in a deep breath, I gripped the hatchet I'm my right hand and quickly flung the door open with my left. I rushed in and quickly ducked, as I saw a bat flying towards my head. It collided with the wall and the assailant gave out a faint shriek. I turned to face my assailant, the hatchet at ready. I was surprised to see a girl with dark black hair and a pink and purple streak in her hair as well, holding the bat and trying to swing it again. I took a step back as the bat clearly missed me, setting the girl off balance. She had on blue jeans and a dark purple shirt with a book on it. Deeming the girl not to be a threat, I put my hands up in defense and tried to speak.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you," I said, the girl looking at me before swinging the bat again.

"You're lying," she yelled, me stepping back again, letting the bat glide in front of me.

"Hey, stop it. Just listen to me," I said, the girl swinging the bat again, not willing to believe anything I would say. Sighing to myself, I caught the bat with my right hand and pulled it out of her hands. Throwing the bat to the ground, I looked at the girl who was now terrified. She fell to her knees and raised her arms in defense, expecting me to assault her or something. I walked over to her and knelt down in front of her, her arms slowly lowering as I dropped the hatchet in my hand.

"I told you, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, standing up and offering her a hand. She looked at me before hesitantly taking it. I helped her up from the ground and wore a smile on my face.

"I'm... sorry that I attacked you like that. It's just that everyone is usually... not very kind in the world we are living in now," she stated, causing me to laugh.

"Well I have to agree with you on that. The world has certainly changed from what it used to be," I said, the girl smiling at me.

"Anyway, what is someone like yourself doing living in a mall, and how did you get power to this room?" I asked, the girl smiling, more than ready to explain everything.

"Well, I was traveling actually, not really sure where to go. Then I met someone who thought it would be a good idea to take refuge a mall. They have everything you need, water, food, entertainment. I mean, I can't tell you how many books I have read," she sheepishly admitted before continuing.

"As for the power. I rerouted the central power line to this room and installed a solar panel on the roof of the mall to gather energy. It is just enough energy to power the lights, and a few accessories such as that sewing machine on the desk over there," the girl said, pointing to the desk that had a sewing machine sitting on top of it.

"So that was the sound I heard in the room... wait. How did you move so quickly from the sewing machine to the door?" I asked, the girl looking at me funny before realizing something.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Rarity, it's safe to come out now. He doesn't seem to have any malicious intentions," the girl said, a head then poking above the desk. As the girl stood up from behind the desk, she had an elegant look to her. She was a little shorter than me, and very thin, almost like a model, but not showing any ribs. She had on a pure white dress with blue diamond patterns sewn into it. Her hair was a purplish color, also flowing with elegance as she flicked her hair back and stared at me.

"Umm, hello dear. I am Rarity. A pleasure to meet you," she said, holding out her hand as I reached out and shook it with a slight bow.

"Everyone calls me Gear and the pleasure is all mine," I said, a slight blush kissing Rarity's cheeks. Surely she had not expected anyone left in the world, to be so polite and well mannered. I then released her hand and turned to the other girl.

"It is also a pleasure to meet you," I said, receiving a smile before a look of surprise.

"I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is a little hard to pronounce, so everyone just calls me Twilight," she said, me nodding my head while smiling.

"Understandable. Gear is actually a name I was called by my friends. I guess I started taking a liking to it and it stuck," I said, laughing a little at the nickname.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have a few more people waiting downstairs. I wasn't sure if it was safe so I told them to wait until it was clear. Would you like to meet them?" I asked, both girls nodding their heads.

"Wonderful, let me go get them," I said, racing downstairs and letting the girls know that it was safe to venture up. We all went up as a group and I introduced them to the two girls I just met. Twilight and Rarity were both surprised to see that my group consisted of only girls and no guys. After telling them some of the incidents involving other males, they quickly understood why I didn't particularly trust the male populace, though I would give them a chance if I could. Suffice to say, the next few hours were spent with all the girls talking about their lives and getting to know the other two girls even more. I on the other hand, was busy making trips back and forth to the sporting goods store, gathering supplies for everyone to use. Instead of traveling to a hotel for the night, we decided it would be better to stay here with our two new friends. This would allow them all to bond with one another, and after hearing some of the stories involving me; they felt safer that I was around. All in all, it was turning out to be a very good day.


	8. Armed and Dangerous

**Sorry everyone. I have been on a cruise for the last few days and haven't had internet access. But the good news is, I managed to get a couple chapters done and will be uploading them... right now lol. Anyways, enjoy this chapter update and plan on the next one being released in a couple of days or so. Until then, I love you all and remember to be safe and make smart choices. -asianpon3- **

**P.S. Does anyone in here play Warthunder? I do and if you feel like playing with me (Giggity) then send me private message with your user name. **

Chapter 8

Dillard's Office (1:00am)

I sat quietly away from the main office that the girls were sleeping in. A small portable burner illuminated a faint area, revealing only a medium sized cup that sat atop it. A few minutes went by as I continued to watch the burner's flame, thinking to myself the entire time. The water that was in the metal cup began to burn as I took it carefully off the heater and poured it into coffee cup with a powdered mix in it. Taking out a spoon I found, I began to stir the contents of the cup together for around ten seconds or so before I took the spoon out. Waiting a few minutes, I laid back on the ground with my arms positioned behind me. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, opening them to see the sight of Twilight staring down at me. I gave a small smile and sat up, Twilight quickly realizing that had been staring and backing away slightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to stare or anything," she said, about to walk away before I started to chuckle lightly.

"Don't worry about it. You were probably wondering why I was up, weren't you?" I asked, receiving a sheepish smile from the girl.

"Well, to be honest, I haven't been able to sleep right the last few days. I don't really know why, but I just can't seem to sleep more than a few hours before I'm up again," I continued, Twilight taking a seat next to me as I grabbed my cup of hot chocolate and began to drink it. I took a small sip and then turned to Twilight before offering her some. She shook her head and I responded with another sip of the warm drink.

"So why are you up at this time?" I asked, Twilight blushing before giving her answer.

"Um, I couldn't really sleep so I decided to read a little," she responded. It was then I noticed a book in her arms.

"Oh, what book are you reading?" I asked, Twilight more than happy to enlighten me.

"It is an old book actually, just some monologues and poetry from the last few decades. For some strange reason I enjoy reading them, especially the ones I can relate too," Twilight bashfully admitted, peaking my interests in the text that lay in front of her.

"Would you be so kind as to read a few?" I asked, Twilight looking at me with a small blush on her face before nodding her head. She turned on a small battery powered lantern that emitted a decent amount of light in the surrounding area. It was luckily enough for her to read the words off of the pages. I laid my head back down and closed my eyes, listening intently to the monologues and poetry read aloud by Twilight, her voice soothing and carrying a strong charismatic persona.

An hour later

"Alright, so which one is your favorite?" I asked, still in the same position as I was before. Twilight thought for a moment before flipping through the book and stopping on a page that had no title, just an author.

"This one is actually my favorite. I can really relate to its meaning and purpose," Twilight said, causing me to smile.

"If you would, I would like to hear it?" I asked, Twilight more than happy to oblige. She cleared her throat and began to read the text aloud.

"I have studied many times the marble which was chiseled for me. A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor. In truth it pictures not my destination but my life. For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment; Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid; Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances. Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life. And now I know that we must lift the sail and..." Twilight tried to continue, but was cut off.

"And catch the winds of destiny wherever they drive the boat. To put meaning in one's life may end in madness, but life without meaning is the torture of restlessness and vague desire. It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid," I finished, Twilight staring at me with the book still open. I turned my head to her and opened my eyes, a sense of calmness and understanding being the key features in my face.

"Written by Edgar Leaves Master," I replied, Twilight nodding her head as the author of the poem matched what I had said. A few minutes of silence went by, Twilight thinking before asking me a question.

"How...how do you know that poem?" she asked. I stood up from the ground and gave my back a loud crack before looking back at Twilight.

"Because that is one of my favorite poems. I have many things in this life I regret. If I would have taken a few more risks... I may have been able to save the lives of two people I used to really care about," I said, Twilight processing everything I just said.

"Enjoy the rest of your time reading Twilight. I think I need to rest for a little bit more now," I said, bidding Twilight a farewell and goodnight as I quietly made my way back into the room with the rest of the girls. I was careful not to step on any of them or make a sound as I moved myself towards my sleeping bag. I then laid down and gave a heavy sigh as I was finally back in my sleeping bag. I closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep before I felt a small weight on my chest. I slowly looked down to see that Skittles had rolled over in her sleep, her arm placed over my chest as she was cuddled against my body. I stared at the sleeping rainbow-mane girl before raising my left arm and placing it over her outstretched arm. I soon closed my eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

(11:00am)

I awoke to a small bit of movement on my chest. My eyes found themselves to Skittles, who beginning to stir from her sleep. I quickly lifted my arm off of her arm, but didn't move the rest of my body. A minute or so later, Skittles had finally entered the phase of opening her eyes. She did so and was met with the sight of me staring back at her. She froze in place trying to process why she was staring at me, then looked down and saw that her body was cuddled next to me. Skittles quickly shot her eyes back at me before quickly pulling herself from off of me, her face flush red with embarrassment. I chuckled lightly and sat up as well.

"Did I make a comfortable snuggle buddy?" I asked, Skittles flushing even redder. I chuckled again and got to my feet, cracking my back after I stood.

"Don't worry Skittles I didn't mind," I replied, stretching the rest of my body. I then looked around the rest of the room to see everyone else was already stirring from their sleep. Within half an hour everyone was up and about getting ready. I left the room in order to give the girls a little bit of privacy for everything they had to do. Another half an hour or so and everyone was ready for the day to begin.

"So what do you two normally do about breakfast?" Skittles asked, Twilight quickly responding before Rarity.

"Well we usually just look around the mall and see if we can find anything that is not expired. Surprisingly, most of the stuff here is packaged so that it won't expire anytime soon. So we have a wide variety to choose from," Twilight said, Skittles nodding her head in understanding.

"Well I don't know about you all but I'm going to get some pancake mix and use one of the stoves I saw at the food court area. Do you want me to make some for all of you?" I asked, receiving nods from everyone.

"That would be marvelous darling, but you don't have to do that for us," Rarity responded.

"Don't worry about it, really. I'm used to this sort of thing," I said.

"Well, if you insist dear, I guess I can't refuse your generous offer," Rarity responded.

"Awesome. Hey Pinkie, you want to help me make the pancakes?" I asked, Pinkie jumping with delight.

"Of course I do Geary!" Pinkie happily responded.

"Alright then. Let's go find the ingredients and get to work," I said, Pinkie happily accompanying me as we scavenged the area for the right ingredients.

An Hour later

"Pinkie, you almost done with mixing that flour into the bowl?" I asked, Pinkie handing me a large bowl of pancake mix.

"Sure am Geary," Pinkie responded. I laughed and began mixing the pancake batter a little more before pouring it onto the large stove. While I was doing this I was completely unaware of Pinkie scooping a bit of flour in her hand and eyeing me with a devilish grin.

"Hey Geary, what's that on your nose?" Pinkie asked. I just finished pouring the pancake mix onto the stove before I set the bowl down and felt my nose.

"I don't feel anything on my nose," I responded, lifting my head and turning to Pinkie who promptly buffeted me with a small bit of flour. The pink haired girl began to laugh as my face was now covered in flour. I stared at Pinkie for a few moments before I grabbed a little flour in my hand and playfully threw it at her. I had hit mark with overall success. Pinkie now had flour all over her face, just like mine. We both stared at one another before playful grins appeared on our faces. I quickly scooped up some more flour, as did Pinkie, and threw it at her. She returned fire before going back for more ammunition. This happened for around three or four more volleys before Pinkie grabbed her last handful of flour. She quickly took a few steps towards me before managing to step on one of her untied shoelaces. She quickly lost grip of the flour in her hand and I was met with Pinkie toppling on top of me. We hit the ground, me on my back and Pinkie on my chest. I looked up at her and noticed that she was staring back at me, our faces inches away from the other. She also wore a different type of facial expression I had never seen on her before. It was one mixed with happiness, and glee, but something else as well that I couldn't quite guess. Her face flushed a slight red before she hurriedly got off me and to her feet. I then stood up from the ground and smiled warmly back at Pinkie, her doing the same.

Another ten minutes or so had passed and the pancakes had all been made. We came out from behind one of the food counters completely covered in flour and large grins on our faces. We also had a plate of large sized pancakes and a bottle of syrup, followed by smaller plates.

"What in tarnation happened to you two back there?" A.J. asked, both of us looking at each other and replying with a sheepish smile.

"Let's just say that things got a little out of hand," I replied. Before I could say anything else I was cut off by Pinkie, who had already started divvying out all the plates and utensils.

"All right everyone, let's dig in," she gleefully exclaimed, all of us taking our plates and devouring the savory pancakes in front of us.

An hour later and we were all sitting at the table, talking with one another about ourselves. It was then I turned to Twilight and asked her a question, everyone else in their own conversation.

"So Twilight. You wouldn't happen to know if there are any weapons around here would you?" I asked, Twilight shaking her head.

"No there aren't. The only guns that were here were already raided before we arrived. The only place there might be any guns is the police office here. There was a large gun safe if I recall, but it was locked," Twilight replied. I thought for a moment before standing up from the table.

"Could you please show me where the safe is?" I asked, Twilight rising from her seat as well and nodding her head.

"Of course I can. It's right over there," she said, walking towards the direction of the police office with me in pursuit.

A few minutes later and we were standing in front of the safe. It was an older model, but was in very good condition. I assumed the guns in the safe were in good condition as well. Walking over to the safe, I inspected the sides and the door before turning back to Twilight.

"So... it looks like that metal is an inch or two thick. Have any ideas on how to get through it?" I asked, Twilight thinking for a moment before shaking her head.

"Not really. Do you have any ideas?" she asked, a smile forming on my face.

"I got one. I will a few things though, but it should work," I said, Twilight interested in my plan.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Well, I need some metal piping, charcoal, weed remover, a mortar and pastel, and smidgen of oil and gasoline," I said, Twilight mentally taking down everything before a smile formed on her face.

"You think that will be strong enough?" she asked. I nodded my head as a response.

"Oh yeah. This is going to be more than enough to get that door open," I replied, mentally recalculating how powerful the explosives will be.

"Yeah, this will definitely work," I said to myself before setting off to try and find all of the ingredients I needed.

Three Hours Later

"Ok Twilight, gently pour the mix into the metal piping please," I asked, Twilight nodding her head as she poured the mixed ingredients into the metal piping I was holding. Once it was near full I stopped Twilight and sealed the explosive with a cap and adhesive. I then placed it snuggly in the small gap between the door and bolt, trailing a small piece of string that was dipped in lighter fluid from the tip of the piping to about fifty feet away where Twilight and I were hiding. I peered my head around the wall before pulling out a lighter and looking at Twilight.

"You might want to cover your ears for this," I said, Twilight quickly placing her hands over her ears for protection. I then lit the lighter, moving it closer to the end of the string. Once the flame made contact, I quickly dropped the lighter and covered my ears. A few seconds later and large, deafening explosion could be heard from all throughout the mall and even a few miles away from it. My ears were tingling slightly but I paid almost no intention to it. I peered my head around the corner of the wall and was relieved to see the bolt holding the door close completely destroyed. The door of the gun safe was also flung wide open from the blast of the explosion, revealing the contents inside the safe. I smiled with glee and quickly ran towards the safe, grabbing the only AR15 in the safe as well a few extra magazines.

"Oh how I have missed you!" I happily exclaimed, almost hugging the AR15. Twilight came up from behind me and gave a small giggle. I turned to her and had a smile plastered on my face before I pulled her into a hug. This caught her off guard, a slight blush adorning her face as I then let her go.

"Thank you Twilight. Now we will have some decent protection," I said, slinging the AR15 onto my back before pulling out a handgun.

"Do you want any of these, you know, for protection?" I asked. Twilight quickly shook her head.

"I'm not one for violence and would never kill another person," she responded.

"But you tried to bludgeon me with a bat?" I countered, Twilight's face becoming a hint of red again before she coughed and cleared her throat.

"That was for protection and it was a nonlethal method. However, I could never bring myself to use a gun. I am a woman of knowledge and reason after all," Twilight quickly stated. I agreed with her before letting out a small laugh.

"Yeah, you probably wouldn't be able to help in a gunfight very well," I said, Twilight becoming slightly offended by what I said.

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked defensively.

"What I mean is, I don't want you to do something you don't want too. I am here to protect those I care about. That includes you, Rarity, and everyone else. I have made many mistakes in my life Twilight; I don't plan on making any more," I finished. Twilight quickly lost her hostility towards me. She felt touched that someone she had just met would risk his life for her and her new friends. She could also sense a bit of regret in his voice as he spoke, leading to the conclusion that he was holding something in that hasn't told anyone about. A voice from behind the two of us snapped Twilight out of her daze.

"What the hay happened in here?" A.J. asked, looking at Twilight and then at me. I smiled and greeted her by throwing a shotgun at her, A.J. promptly catching the gun in her right hand.

"Where in tarnation did yall get this from?" she asked. I laughed and stepped aside, allowing her to see the gun safe that was blown open.

"Sorry to worry you A.J. We just needed to blow open the door to the safe in order to get to the guns. If I say so myself, it was successful," I said, A.J. sighing and nodding her head.

"Looks like it partner. Next time though, warn us before you go and blow something up. Some of us might want to watch," she jokingly said. It was followed by small laughter from me.

"Will do A.J. Hey, can you also tell the others not to worry as well?" I asked, A.J. nodding her head with a smile.

"Will do partner. We will be back in the office so just head on over when yall are done here," she said, me nodding my head in agreement. I then turned my focus to a vest inside the safe. I pulled it out and my heart skipped a beat as I saw the familiar sight of the armor plated Molle compatible vest. I quickly set my AR15 down and began the task of putting the vest on. It was a little heavy, though I didn't mind. I was just overjoyed to have a sense of body armor again. It had already saved my ass once, and I doubt it would be the last time. I then reslung the AR15 around my shoulder before grabbing my backpack and filling it to the brim with the few extra pistols in the safe, along with as much ammo and magazines as I could carry. With the safe thoroughly cleaned out and my backpack about to burst, I looked at Twilight and gave a nod of my head, signaling that it was time for us to meet up with everyone else. With a smile on her face we began our to walk back to the main office where everyone was.

Main Office (ten minutes before arrival)

"Hey, um Shy? Can I talk with you about something?" Pinkie asked, Shy nodding her head.

"Sure Pinkie. What do you want to talk about?" Shy asked, Pinkie becoming slightly nervous.

"Well... I'm not sure actually. Just that I think... I think I like Gear," Pinkie quietly said, Shy smiling at Pinkie.

"We all like Gear Pinkie. He is a good and caring person, and just oh so nice," Shy responded, Pinkie looking down before looking back at Shy.

"No Shy. I mean, I think I'm starting to really like Gear, as more than a friend," she said; Shy blushing a slight red in her face as she heard this.

"Oh... you mean like, you really like him," Shy quietly asked, Pinkie nodding her head. There were a few moments of silence before Pinkie asked Shy another question.

"What do you think of Gear Shy? I mean, what do you really think of him?" Pinkie asked, Shy hiding behind her mane and looking down at the ground. She gave the question some thought, but knew immediately how she felt about him. Her heart would skip a beat every time she was near him. She would feel safe and loved whenever he was in the same room with her. Shy knew the answer and quietly answered her friend about her feelings.

"I... I really like him too," She quietly said, Pinkie hearing her friend before pulling her into a hug. Shy was quite shocked that Pinkie would be so understanding that she liked the same person she did. Pinkie broke the hug and smiled at Shy.

"We both like him. How about we share him?" Pinkie asked. Shy looked at Pinkie with a confused look on her face.

"Share him? You mean like both of us date him?" Shy asked, Pinkie beaming a large smile.

"Sure do silly. I mean, sharing is caring after all!" Pinkie exclaimed, her normal voice returning. Shy thought it over for a moment and came to the conclusion that she would not have any problem sharing him with Pinkie, just as long as he liked them both.

"I... I guess that could work," Shy said. Pinkie smiled and nodded her head.

"Ok. We can tell him tonight then," Pinkie said, Shy turning red and getting somewhat scared.

"What? Oh we can't. I mean, what if he doesn't like me, or you, or something bad happens. I, I just don't know about that Pinkie," Shy said, Pinkie wrapping an arm around her friend.

"Don't worry Shy, everything will be fine," she said. Shy had a nervous look on her face, but agreed with Pinkie. This was going to be a very tense night.


	9. Reunited

**Been a little bit since I uploaded a chapter, but I have started summer classes and yeah. I will try to get more chapters out for you all very soon. Lately though, I have not been in the writing mood and only find myself writing for around twenty minutes at a time. Hopefully this feeling goes away so I can upload more and give you all what you truly want to read. Until then though, be on the lookout for updates. Remember to be safe and make smart choices everypony. -Asianpon3-**

Chapter 9

Dillard's Office

"Wow Gear, where did you get all of these this?" a shocked Skittles asked as I placed my backpack full of ammunition and pistols on a desk in the room.

"I got it from a gun safe Twilight helped me open," I said, taking out all of the ammunition and pistols from my backpack. When I finally unloaded everything, the count had to be around a thousands rounds of handgun ammunition, five hundred or so rounds of AR15 ammo, a few extra magazines for both the AR15 and handguns, and around three hundred or so rounds of shotgun ammo. With everything placed out on the desk, I smiled to myself and began loading the extra magazines full of ammo, A.J. walking up next to me and loading her shotgun.

"So, you ever fire one of those things before?" I asked, A.J. shaking her head before she loaded the last round into the gun.

"Can't say I have. But I'm a fast learning partner," she smugly said, putting the gun on safety and giving me a warm smile. I laughed a little before I finished loading the extra handgun magazines.

"You sound just like me," I stated, A.J. laughing and smiling as a result of the comment.

"I'm nowhere near as smart as you partner," A.J. said, laughing again as I smiled.

"You are smart A.J. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," I said. A.J. had a lightly flushed face from the compliment I just gave her. I continued to load the rest of the AR15 magazines before sliding one into the AR15 itself.

"Alright everyone, we are now fully prepared for a shootout," I said, Rarity coughing slightly before commenting.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that dear," Rarity said, me laughing and setting the gun down on the desk.

"I hope something like that doesn't happen either. But past experiences have led me to always expect the unexpected," I said. The glass to the upstairs window suddenly shattered as an all to familiar sight met my eyes. I quickly lunged at the grenade on the ground and threw it out into the next room before throwing the nearest person to the ground, which happened to be Skittles. I then threw myself on top of her as the grenade in the next room exploded, letting out a deafening bang. After the grenade exploded I quickly examined the room and everyone in it.

"Is everyone ok?" I yelled, seeing another grenade lobbed in through the broken window. I dove at the grenade and threw it out the window before it exploded a couple seconds later. It was then that I heard a barrage of gunfire coming from the lower level of the mall. I quickly crawled my way to my AR15 and extra magazines, also grabbing the shotgun on the desk and sliding it towards A.J.

"A.J. I need you to watch my back. If anyone comes through that door you know what to do," I yelled, also sliding an extra box of ammo towards her. The cowgirl nodded her head in understanding before posting up at the door and watching for any unwelcomed guests. I quickly made my way to the window and waited for a break in the fire. I was granted a slight reprieve a few seconds later. I quickly stuck my head up and fired off a few rounds, more for covering fire just to see whom my assailants were. I spotted only four males, three of them in their early twenties and one of them that looked like he was around sixteen years old. After seeing the four males I lowered my head back to cover before another grenade came through the window and landed next to me. My instincts retaliated and within a second, the grenade sailed out through the window and exploded as it hit the ground. The barrage of gunshots then resumed as I looked towards Twilight who was taking cover on the ground. I then noticed the bat next to Twilight before an idea came into my head.

"Twilight. Hey Twilight, throw me the bat," I yelled, Twilight looking at me confused for a second but obliging and throwing the bat towards me. I quickly took the bat in my hand and waited for the barrage of gunfire to end. I then waited another second before I stood up in a batting position, just in time to see a grenade sailing towards me.

"Not this time you bastards," I said to myself, swinging the bat and making contact with the grenade. The grenade went sailing through the air before exploding near the roof of the mall, right above the assailants. A support beam that was affected by the grenade gave way and fell towards the ground, crushing two of the older males. I ducked back down behind the window and began to laugh, everyone staring at me like I was crazy.

"Why in tarnation are you laughing?" A.J. asked, me smiling back towards her and grabbing my AR15 again.

"I guess you can say that I just hit a double," me slightly laughing again from the joke that nobody else got. My laughter was interrupted as more bullets found their way amongst our general vicinity.

"Ok, we only have two left. Everyone stay down. I'm going to go see if I can get a visual on them," I said, waiting again for the bullets to cease. A minute or so went by before all became quiet. I poked my head up and scanned the area around the bottom floor of the mall. To my surprise, I didn't see anyone on the lower floor. I was skeptical at first, and decided to proceed with caution.

"Alright, A.J. I'm going to go downstairs and have a look around. I want you to stay up here and guard everyone while I'm away," I said, moving towards the door with my AR 15. It was then that I was blindsided by a man with a knife, dropping my AR15 in the process.

"Gear!" I could hear everyone shout, but only A.J. and Skittles left the room to see what was happening. Luckily, my armor plates stopped the knife from doing any damage. The man soon realized this and reared back his right hand holding the knife. His target was my neck, which he struck for, but I quickly blocked his attack and let a punch full force into his face with my right hand. The man recoiled in pain, but still held onto the knife. Skittles, seeing that the man was in no state to really fight, lunged at the man with a fist. The man instantly opened his eyes and swung the knife at Skittles. This caught her completely off guard and in a real bad situation. Fearing for her safety over mine, I ran towards Skittles and blocked the knife attack at the cost of a nasty gash on my left arm. I punched the man in the face again with my other arm before he stumbled away near the window of the room that overlooked the first floor. I punched him once again before back pivoting his body in the chest. This action caused the man to sail out the second story window and onto the ground below, killing him. I looked over to the window of the room before a smile appeared on my face. I then turned my attention to Skittles, who had fallen on her flank during the whole ordeal. I reached a hand towards her and helped her up.

"You ok Skittles?" I asked, Skittles nodding her head before looking at my cut arm.

"Gear, I'm so sorry. If I wouldn't have done something so reckless you wouldn't have gotten hurt," Skittles said, disappointed and slightly ashamed of the pain she had caused. This caused her to start to tear up. I looked at my arm and then at Skittles before pulling her into a hug.  
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm just glad you are safe," I replied, Skittles looking up at me speechless with a hint of redness in her face.

"You're, you're not upset?" she asked. I looked at her for a second before shaking my head.

"I am a little upset Skittles. Something terrible could have happened to you. We could have lost you and I would never forgive myself if I lost someone close to me again," I said, Skittles looking up at me before pushing her head gently against my chest and nodding her head, the red glint of a blush still noticeable on her face.

"All right, I'm going downstairs to see if there is the other kid I saw earlier still lingering about. He didn't have a weapon that I could see, but that still doesn't mean he is armed," I announced, everyone nodding their head before Twilight took a step forward.

"Wait, you said there was a kid on the main floor of the mall with no weapon? What did he look like?" Twilight interestingly asked. I thought for a moment before shrugging my shoulders.

"Actually, I don't really know. I just saw how young he looked compared to the others," I stated, Twilight becoming slightly disheartened by my response.

"Oh, ok," Twilight light heartedly said, peaking my interest a bit.

"Twilight, is something wrong?" I asked, Twilight shaking her head. I stared at her for another minute or so, but knew she wouldn't tell me what she was hiding. I mentally shrugged my shoulders before grabbing my AR15 and heading downstairs. I cautiously turned every corner of the store to make sure the last member of the gang wasn't hiding waiting to surprise me. After clearing the downstairs floor of the Dillards, I worked my way to the carnage outside of the Dillards.

The body that had been kicked out the window laid in front of me, prowled out in a pool of blood. I bypassed the man before moving over to the fallen support beam that killed two of the males. As I got closer to the fallen object, I began to hear light noise, making me go on high alert mode. I cautiously approached the beam before slowly rounding the corner to see the boy who was around sixteen, pinned down, his body free but foot stuck underneath the pile of metal. I took one more step forward before he noticed me. He quickly reached for a handgun as I raised my AR15 to meet him.

"Drop your weapon," I yelled, the boy yelling back at me.

"Drop yours and I won't shoot," he threatened, though I was sure I had the upper advantage.

"And why should I do that? I could have easily killed you," I said, the boy clutching the pistol in his hand before doing something unexpected.

"Then do it," he said, dropping the pistol on the ground and having a look of defeat in his eyes. I was momentarily shocked, but quickly recovered before searching the boy for any other weapons on his body.

"So why did you attack us?" I asked, the boy sighing and answering my question.

"I was hoping to meet some people here. Those men that you just killed helped me survive the past week or so. I was trying find my friend and sister, but got separated from them and those men found me. They said they would protect them and if I knew where they were. I said that they were here and we had made a plan to come here and hold up. They decided that they didn't want to help me, but used me to find my friend and sister, or that is what they thought. Apparently, they found you instead," he said. I studied his face for a second, trying to tell if he was lying or not. From the way he acted, he seemed sincere, but I didn't want to take any chances.  
"Can you describe what your friend and sister look like?" I asked, the teenager agreeing before giving me their details.

"My sister has dark purple hair with a pink and purple highlight running down it. She is around five eight and is kind of a nerd. My friend... well I don't really how to describe her. But she is so beautiful, the most beautiful person you have ever seen," the teenager commented, my mind racing as I tried to piece together who this kid was.

"Your sister. Her name... isn't Twilight is it?" I asked, the teenager's expression perking up.

"Yes it is! How did you know?" he quickly asked, hope appearing in his eyes. I was hesitant for a second before I got up from my spot and turned around.

"Stay right there. I will be right back," I said, disappearing before the teen had any time to object. I quickly ran back to where everyone was and within a minute or so, I was standing in front of all of them.

"Gear, are you ok?" Skittles asked. I nodded my head and turned my head to Twilight.

"Hey Twilight, do you have a brother?" I asked, Twilight's heart stopping for a moment before nodding her head.

"Yes I do. He... he was separated from us about a week or so ago. I figured... I figured he probably died by those people he was with," she stated, me nodding my head and grabbing her by the hand.

"What... what are you doing?" she asked. I didn't respond but continued to lead her downstairs and towards the teenager that was still pinned. We rounded the corner and as she saw the teenager with his foot under the metal beam. She clasped her hands to her mouth and began to tear up. The teenager looked at the girl standing in front of her, his face full of excitement.

"Twilight!" he yelled, trying to free his foot from the beam but was not successful. Twilight quickly ran over to her brother and hugged him tightly, the teen hugging her back. I soon confirmed that they were in fact related and that he didn't have any malice intentions towards me or anyone else I was with. I slowly walked over to two before I looked at his right foot that was caught under the beam. I studied how the beam rested on his foot before figuring out a way to unpin it. After a minute or two of observation, I grabbed a metal rod that was apart of the beam and positioned it under the teen's foot.

"On the count of three I'm going to lift. I want you to move your foot at that time. Understand?" I asked, the teen nodding his head as Twilight took a couple of steps back to let us work.

"Alright. One, two, three," I said, lifting the metal rod up just enough for the teen to free his foot. I let go of the metal rod before I saw the beam completely crush everything underneath it. I turned my view to Twilight who was still hugging her younger brother. I smiled gently before holding out a hand the teen. He looked at me skeptically, but a little reassurance from Twilight and he gratefully took my hand before I helped him to his feet. As he stood, I noticed a slight wobble in his balance, no doubt from where the pillar had trapped his foot.

"Let's see what Fluttershy can do about your foot. For now though," I said, turning my back to him and crouching down.

"What... what are you doing?" he asked, already knowing the answer though.

"I'm going to carry you upstairs because you are in no condition to walk. This just seems to be the best way to do it," I added. The teen hesitantly gripped his arms around my neck as I hoisted him up and began to walk back towards the office. It took a few minutes, but we soon arrived and I placed Twilight's brother in a chair before turning to Shy.

"Hey everyone. I would like you all to meet Twilight's brother..." I paused for a moment, not actually knowing his name.

"Spike," the teen said. I smiled and then continued the rest of what I was saying.

"Twilight's brother Spike. He is going to be with us, so get to know each other and treat him well," I said, then turning to Shy.

"Shy, could you please look at his foot. It seems to cause him pain," I said; Shy nodding her head before examining Spike's injured foot. I then walked out of the room for a moment before I grabbed my left arm and slid down the wall I was up against. I pulled my hand away and looked at the blood that covered it.

"Hey there Sugarcube. Looks like you need someone to look at," I heard a voice say, followed by my slight laughter.

"It's just a scratch. I'll be fine," I commented, A.J. walking over to me and looking at my arm.

"This is a pretty deep cut. It's more than a scratch Sugarcube," A.J. remarked. I shrugged my shoulders as a response. A.J. somewhat glared at me before leaving and returning with my medical kit I always had in my backpack. She opened the med kit before looking at my arm again.

"This may sting a little," she said, wiping the cut and surround area with a cloth that was coated in disinfectant. I clenched my fists as the burning sensation filtered through my left arm. She then put a Neosporin coated gauze pad over the cut and wrapped it in medical tape. It wasn't the best job done by a professional or anything, but it was good enough to keep the cut covered and clean. I looked at my arm and then at the smiling cowgirl in front of me.

"Thank you A.J." I said, A.J. blushing lightly but nodding her head.

"No problem Sugarcube. You woulda done the same for me," she said. I nodded my head in agreement and met her with another gentle smile. She then stood up and left me to return to the others. From the other room I could hear everyone laughing and having a good time as they introduced themselves to Spike. I smiled again and slowly closed my eyes. I was tired, and the events of the day had taken their toll on me. I soon drifted off into a peaceful sleep, unaware that a certain rainbow hair girl was watching me, her face showing signs of slight guilt.


	10. Conflicting Feelings

**Hey everypony. Gear here, yes my oc name is Gear so yeah. Anyways, enjoy the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy reading it. Dont forget to leave a comment and yeah. Remember to make smart choices and stay safe. -Asianpon3-**

Chapter 10

Several weeks had passed since the incident with the raiders and all was going well. Deciding that protection was of the upmost importance, many of the extra pistols that were salvaged from the gun locker were used to train everyone on how to shoot. Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie were average when it came to shooting, able to hit marks around twenty feet or so. Skittles and A.J. were well above average when it came to hitting their marks, being able to hit their targets from around thirty to a forty feet away. What really surprised me was the marksmanship of Spike. He was able to hit a can off a wooden beam from around sixty to seventy feet away. I hated to admit it, but with a handgun, I was outdone by the younger adversary. This still put me at ease though, knowing that everyone would be well protected if something were to happen to me.

Besides the training, things started to also get a little... awkward. A day after the attack, Pinkie and Shy confessed their feelings towards me. I responded in kind with promptly fainting and waking up with almost no recollection of what happened. Though I could tell they were hurt, I gave no definitive answer of my feelings towards the both of them, so they still had some hope. Since that time, I had been asking myself of what I truly felt for everyone around me, and was conflicted with what I felt towards everyone. In all honestly, I liked each and every one of them in their own way. They were all beautiful and I would die trying to protect them, but at the same time, I felt that it would be wrong if I were to show my feelings towards one of them and not the others.

Rarity though, was an exception. She was one of the more beautiful ones out of all the girls there, but I couldn't encroach upon Spike's 'territory' so to say. I could tell he liked her from when I first met him, and was later confirmed when I approached him about it. Both of us being males, it was almost like an unwritten agreement that I wouldn't try to steal Rarity away until Spike confessed his feelings towards her or stopped liking her, which was not very likely.

The two of us also bonded very well with each other, me acting like a big brother to the teen. It was a nice change of scenery, since I had only been surrounded by females until I met him. Aside from shooting, the two of us also practiced hand-to-hand combat. With the average experience I had from when I took martial arts, I was able to teach him how to disarm someone with a knife or gun, as well as basic attacks with both his hands and feet. He was a fast learning and I felt proud that he picked up on so much in just the few short weeks that we had been together.

This gave me confidence that he would be able to protect everyone while I was away looting the surrounding areas of anything that could be of use to us. My main concern when looting was to find more ammunition, for we had used much of it from practicing. We had ample gun cleaning kits and a surplus of food and water. Looting also gave me some one on one time with anyone who wanted to come with me. Pinkie, Skittles, and A.J. usually offered to go with me, so we had to rotate with everyone everyday I went out. Shy and Twilight came with me once though, but Twilight only wanted to search for a few spare parts at a nearby electronics shop, while Shy didn't really give a reason as to why she wanted to come. I assumed it was because she liked me and I happily accepted her company.

It was almost time for today's looting run. I gathered my military style backpack that had only a few necessities in it, since I wasn't going to be gone for days at a time, and threw it around my back. Instead of my AR-15, I strapped a belt around my waist and holstered a pistol before placing a strap above it to hold it firmly in place. Since I wanted to carry as much weight as possible, and if any conflict would arise, it would most likely be close quarters combat. So I decided that a pistol would be the most effective weapon of choice.

"Ready there Sugarcube?" a familiar voice sounded from behind me. I smiled and turned around to see A.J. standing behind me with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I am. I see that you are also ready," I stated, seeing A.J. had her pistol holstered to her side as well, along with an empty backpack for looting.

"You bet," she excitedly stated, receiving a laugh from me as a response.

"Ok, just let me tell everyone we are about to head out. Don't want them to get worried about us," I said, moving towards a large room across from the office. I walked inside and greeted everyone, as per usual.

"Alright everyone, I'm heading out now with A.J. We will be back here in a few hours or so," I said, Rarity chiming.

"Please be careful dear. We don't want anything bad to happen to you two," Rarity said, looking up from her sewing machine.

"Don't worry Rarity, we will be fine. And if something ever did happen to us, you all have Spike here to protect you," I stated, patting the teen on the back. His face flushed slightly red and I gave him a small smile, like an older brother would after he embarrasses his younger brother in front of the girl he likes.

I let out a short laugh before turning away from the door and taking a step out. I was suddenly stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see Skittles standing in front of me, her hand quickly placed behind her back, and a look of shyness on her face that was angled somewhat towards the ground.

"Hey Skittles, something wrong?" I asked, noticing that this was not like Skittle's normal demeanor.

"Oh, umm, I just wanted to wish you luck on your looting run," she said before she smiled up at me. I could tell she wanted something else, so I took both of my arms and wrapped them around the rainbow-haired girl. This had become usual for the last few weeks we had been here. Ever since the raiders, Skittle's attitude has become more affectionate and well, clingy. I didn't mind this, though I was curious as to what had changed her personality so much. It seemed to only be directed towards me. When she would be with everyone else, she would act like she normally would.

I released Skittles from the hung and messed up her mane with my hand.

"Thanks Skittles. Don't worry, we will be back before you know it," I said, taking my hand off her head and walking out the door with A.J.

We headed to the downstairs area of the mall where a motorcycle stood, fueled and ready to go. I got on and started the engine, revving it a few times for good measure. A.J. then climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around my waist as we slowly made our way down the mall and out the main door.

Three Hours Later

"Find anything good?" I asked, A.J. answering me from the other room of the store.

"Nothin. Varmints must have looted it all," A.J. said. I laughed quietly at her choice of terminology before setting down a random can of food in the store.

"It looks like everything that is important is gone," I said, sighing before I walked over to A.J.

"So what do we do now partner?" A.J. asked. I shook my head and pulled out map I had gotten at the mall.

"I don't know, but it seems that everything around here is pretty much looted. I was sure we would find something here though," I complained, sighing before putting the map away in my backpack and standing up. I took a few steps towards the doors, A.J. in tow, but suddenly heard an odd sound coming from the floorboard. I turned to A.J. with a confused face.

"A.J. did you hear that?" I said, taking a step backwards as it made the sound again. A.J. shook her head before I knelt down and ran a hand over floorboard area. At first, it looked like a normal wooden floor. But upon closer inspection, there was a hatch that could be flipped up and used to open, what I assume was a trap door leading to the basement. I quickly opened the door and took out a flashlight from my backpack. I turned it on and descend down the small, six to seven foot ladder before landing on dirt. I moved the flashlight around the dark room and was filled with glee at what I saw. Several crates of ammunition were strewn about the almost empty storage area, undoubtedly from the fact that it was most likely a secret stash that the owner had in case anything bad were to happen.

I walked over to the first crate and read the inscription on the side.

".50 caliber rounds."

I pushed the crate to the side and moved onto the next crate, knowing that it was worthless to horde that type of ammo, which is probably why it was still here.

The next crate was a better score. Inside, there were around fifty cases of handgun ammunition, in the .40 S&W size I was looking for. I quickly grabbed all the cases and dumped them into the my backpack, easily able to fit them all with a little extra room.

"Alright A.J. the handgun ammo problem is solved. We have like ten thousand rounds now," I happily called up to A.J.

"That's great Sugarcube. Is there anything else down there that is worth takin?" A.J. asked. I looked around at the other crates of ammo, but they were for guns I didn't have.

"Not really. Just other useless stuff we don't need," I stated, starting to walk towards the ladder before another crate caught my eye. I shined my flashlight on the crate and grinned largely from the inscription I read on the crate.

"Oh yeah, this could come in handy," I said, starting to fill my backup up as much as it could.

Twenty Minutes Later

"Damn, what the hell is this. A tropical storm," I yelled, my voice almost muffled by the sound of harsh rain and wind. Luckily, the backpack was waterproof so I didn't need to worry about anything I had getting wet. My clothes were a different story though.

We had traveled around an hour or so out of the city in search of new places to loot. We were currently on a back road in the middle of nowhere, trying to find our way back to the interstate.

"This isn't good. I can barely see anything in front of me, and the storm is getting worse," I yelled, A.J. tapping me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"Maybe we should stop Sugarcube. Find shelter and travel back when the storm has passed," A.J. reasoned. I slowly came to a stop on the bike and nodded my head in agreement.

"I agree, but I don't see anywhere that we can take refuge," I said, A.J. pointing down a dirt road.

"This road must lead somewhere. Maybe we can find shelter if we follow it."

I agreed with A.J. and we soon started making our way down the road.

A minute or so passed and the trail was becoming slippery. If it wasn't for the all terrain tires this motorcycle had, we would have been done for a long time ago. Luckily, I saw a very small farmhouse out in the distance and decided that was going to be our shelter. I carefully made my way to the farmhouse and the two of quickly dismounted the bike before rushing in. The inside of the house was too dark to see anything. I undid the smallest pouch on my backpack and took out my flashlight before shining it around the surrounding area. It was one of the smallest houses I had ever seen. All it had was a kitchen, a bedroom without a bed, washroom, and living room. I handed A.J. the flashlight real fast before going back out into the rain and pushing the motorcycle onto the porch. At least it would stay somewhat dry up there. I then entered back into the dark room and looked at A.J.

She was shivering and I could tell she was freezing. Being in wet clothes also didn't help the matter. I quickly scanned the living room again and noticed a fireplace that had a small stack of firewood near it. Thinking that this was our ticket to warmth, I set down my backpack and placed the logs in the fireplace area. I then took out my lighter from my backpack before looking around the living room for a piece of paper or magazine I could burn to start the fire. I found an old magazine lying on the end table, before I snatched it up and placed it under the dry logs. I lit the magazine on fire and watched as the fire spread from the paper to the dry logs, illuminating the entire living room and other portions of the house. I smiled as we finally found a source of warmth and light. I then began to strip off my shoes and socks followed by my shirt.

"What are you doing partner?" A.J. asked, confusion evident in her face.

"I'm taking off my wet clothes. I would suggest you do the same, otherwise we could get sick," I said, standing up and starting to strip my pants off. A.J. watched in shock, and slight enjoyment as I shed the last piece of clothing before only my boxers remained. A.J. knew I had the right idea, and reluctantly started to strip her clothes off as well. Her plaid shirt and blue jeans short hung over the mantle to dry, while an orange bra and underwear were the only clothing she had on. She quickly wrapped her arms around herself and began to shiver. A few seconds later, she felt the warm sensation of a quilt envelop her. She looked up from the ground and saw me kneeling next to her with a smile.

"I managed to find a quilt for you and a comforter for sleeping. I didn't see a mattress in the bedroom, so I think it would be best to sleep out here in the living room next to the fire. I also found a couple of pillows for us to use, so it will be moderately comfortable when we sleep," I said, walking off and brining back the comforter and pillows I had seen earlier. I placed them on a living room chair before standing next to the fire and warming my body.

By now, A.J. had become warm and she was feeling mostly dry. She turned her attention to me and stared at my back as I continued to get warm. She noticed how it was somewhat scarred, but couldn't tell from what exactly.

"Hey, Gear. What happened to your back?" A.J. asked curiously. She was met with me quickly standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

"So are you hungry. Maybe this guy had some canned food he left here. He must have something we can eat," I said, avoiding the question all together.

A.J. looked towards me with confusion, but ultimately responded with a simple nod of her head.

"Alright, lets see... wow, this guy has canned salmon and rice. Perfect!" I said, grabbing the two cans of food and searching for a frying pan. The owner luckily had a large pan that could be used to cook the salmon and rice at the same time. I then brought everything over to the fire before pulling a can opener out of my backpack and poking a hole in both cans. I drained out any liquid in the ashes under the fire and resumed removing the rest of the lid of the can.

Within a few minutes, I had the salmon and rice cooking on top of the frying pan above the burning logs. The sight of food looked delicious and I could tell that we were both starving.

Once I deemed the food to be cooked through enough, I set the pan down on a flat-decorative stone that surrounded the fireplace. I then walked into the kitchen and returned with two plates and forks. I equally divided the food and handed A.J. her plate.

"Well, let's dig in," I said, taking a bite out of the salmon. It wasn't the best flavor in the world, but right now it tasted like a five star meal. I took another bite of salmon, followed by a bite of rice.

"Man, it's been forever since I had rice," I stated, A.J. perking up at the comment.

"How long ya been without rice?" she asked.

"I would have to say... when I finally won my settlement from my foster parents," I commented, taking another bite out of the rice.

"How come ya stopped eatin rice after you won your settlement?"

"Well... when I was with them, I was kept alive with very minimal food. Rice just happened to be filling, you get massive amounts of it, and cheap as can be. They would force me to eat rice with other types of food that would barely keep me satisfied, though I was usually hungry afterwards anyway. It was enough to sustain my body and that is all they cared about," I finished, taking another bite of the rice and then the salmon.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sugarcube. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," A.J. guiltily said, receiving a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it A.J. It is all good now," I said, a happy smile on my face.

"Is that also how you got those scars on your back?" A.J. questioned again. This time, I didn't get up and change the subject. I let out a heavy sigh and stared at A.J.

"You really want to know what happened, don't you?" I asked, A.J. looking guilty once more, but nodding her head.

"I got these scars around the same time I lost my two best friends. We were escaping from a place we had no business being in. We were taken in by a group of mercenaries, you know, ex military, police, people like that. They protected us and taught us how to protect ourselves. One day, we found them screwing with some random person that had wandered into our encampment. They beat him to a pulp for fun and then murdered him in cold blood. Seeing the brutality of these people made us question our loyalty to the group. Seeing how it would be better if were to get away from them, we decided to run away with several of their supplies. Before we could safely leave, we were jumped by the mercenaries and treated with the same kind of punishment that was previously displayed. They beat and bloodied us, before putting a bullet through both of my friend's heads. I was lashed, branded, beaten, and starved, but I didn't die. I managed to escape and run away from them, killing several of the mercenaries who trained me. I got away and continued running. A month or so later, I found Skittles and well, you know the rest from there."

A.J. looked like she was on the verge of tears, but she held them in.

"Gear, I'm so sorry," she softly spoke, setting down her food and wrapping me in a hug. My head was still low and I tried not to tear up or cry, though that was easier said then done.

"I have been alone my entire life and when I finally find people who care for me, they are murdered. I... I don't want to feel this lonely feeling anymore," I continued to softly speak.

"You aren't alone anymore Sugarcube," A.J. gently spoke. I slowly lifted my head to eye level with the cowgirl before the wet sensation of her lips gingerly pressed themselves against mine.

At first, I was shocked, but soon continued the kiss, intensifying it until I had to break away.

"A.J. I'm sorry, I can't do this," I said, A.J. having a disheartening look on her face.

"What do you mean Partner? You don't like me?" she asked, though she already had a hurt expression on her face like I had already rejected her.

"No, no, no. It's not that A.J. I mean, I think you are a wonderful girl, and any guy would be lucky to have you. But I... I just can't," I said, A.J. growing confused.

"What do you mean partner?" she asked.

"What I mean is, I'm not sure how I feel exactly. I have been asking myself the same question the past few days, and I just don't know."

A.J. thought for a moment before asking a question herself.

"Is it someone else you like then?"

I looked towards A.J. and shook my head.

"I don't know A.J. I just don't know," I responded.

A silence then filled the air and the atmosphere become awkward. A few minutes passed of no one talking before I sighed heavily and looked at A.J.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so confused and conflicted right now," I said, A.J. smiling and hugging me again.

"It's ok Sugarcube. I shouldn't force ma self on you if you really don't feel the same way," she said. We broke the hug and both smiled at each other.

"Thanks A.J. You really are a good friend," I said.

A.J. responded with a nod of her head and the continuation of her meal.

After the kissing incident, everyone was fine. We relaxed and talked about different types of things we had on our minds. We also managed to find a deck of old playing cards in the house and were more than happy to play cards games to pass the time.

The storm outside was still relentless, so we had no choice but to call it a night. I sprawled out the comforter and pillows for us to use before we both got under, our backs facing each other.

"Night A.J." I said, A.J. responding in kind.

"Night Sugarcube," she said.

A few minutes had passed and I was still awake, facing towards the door to the house. A moment later, I felt the warm sensation of A.J.'s back against mine. At first, I was about to move, but realized that had shifted in her sleep. I decided to let it pass, and closed my eyes, trying to get to sleep. What I failed to realize was that A.J. was still awake and had a small smile on her face.


End file.
